


It Must Be the Colors in Your Hair

by katfish



Series: It Must Be the Colors in Your Hair [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Baker Jeremy, Blow Jobs, Bullying, Eye Color AU, F/M, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, Hair color au, Homophobic Language, M/M, More characters to be added, RageHappy, Rocky Horror Picture Show - Freeform, Smut, Soulmates, Teacher Joel, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-09-28 17:15:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 64,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10141079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katfish/pseuds/katfish
Summary: Your soulmate’s hair color is the color of your eyes. the color of your eyes also changes to match the color of their hair if they dye it.





	1. A Brown Eyed Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time writing a high school au hope it's not too bad.  
> Story title based on the song "She's a Rainbow" by the Rolling Stones.  
> Just so ya know Michael, Lindsay, Gavin, Meg, and Jeremy are all Sophomores. Ryan is a Junior. Geoff, Griffon, Jack, and Caiti are Seniors.  
> All of their schedules are based on the schedules my friends and I had during our years in high school.

It was just another day at the lunch table, Ryan was staring at his tray full of halfway decent school food when an off-hand comment from Michael made him look up towards Gavin “Purples a good look on you buddy.” 

Gavin stared at him for a minute before turning to Meg who had recently dyed her hair purple and gave her a kiss on the forehead. 

“S’pose so, ain’t it boi?” Gavin turned back to listen to Geoff tell a story about what happened today during 3rd period. 

Ryan into his tray and pulled out his phone to look at himself. It seemed that everyone had more interesting eyes than Ryan’s plain old brown ones.

Geoff’s were a light blonde and sometimes had specs of green and pink, Michael’s were red, Gavin’s changed colors a lot but the main ones were red, purple, blue, and brown, even though Jack’s were brown they were a light brown.

Plus, being the only single guy at the table didn’t help. It was just that seeing all his friends curled up next to someone while the only empty chair at the table was filled by Ryan's backpack. 

“Rye you feeling okay? You've kinda just been staring at your food.” Jack piped up which got an approving nod from everyone else at the table. 

“Yeah just thinking about what the musical should be this year. Mr. Heyman asked me to help come up with at least one idea by today and I haven't thought of anything.” He looked back up at his friends with a small smile. 

“Ooh, you should do Rocky Horror!” Meg squealed excitedly, which got a laugh from Lindsay. 

“I'll put it on the list,” Ryan replied while taking a swig from his Diet Coke.

“So what’s everyone up to on Saturday? I'm thinking we could play a few games of Mario Party at my place.” 

“We're down boi!” Gavin exclaimed pulling Meg closer into him. 

“Sorry, Gav you're going solo. Promised Jon I would model for a photo shoot for him that day. Next time though definitely!” She wiggled out of his grasp and took a bite of her sandwich 

“There is no way I'm getting anywhere near that. Last time y'all played Michael almost broke his controller. Plus the four of us are going on a double date.” Jack interjected and looked over at Caiti, Geoff, Griffon. 

“Rye wanna join? It’s way more fun if you have all four people.” Gavin said as he looked over at Ryan.

“Yeah, I'll go. Just text me the time.” Ryan responded while standing up to return his tray and throw out anything else anybody had. 

The bell rang signaling lunch was over the group said their goodbyes and headed to their next period classes. 

Ryan walked up the stairs to his English class and sat at his desk that was in the back and 2 rows away from the door. 

Once he sat down he zipped open his backpack and got his materials out. 

He stretched out his legs under the desk in front of him and heard someone call his name. He looked over and it was Larry who was sitting next to him. 

“Hey, Ryan what's up?” He said with a small wave. 

“Nothing much just trying to get through the period. Have you been writing anything new?” Ryan waved back and let out a small laugh. 

“Yep!” He said popping the p “This one is gonna get me sent down to guidance for sure!” Larry’s laugh filled the room. 

Ryan liked Larry he was funny. He was also a good writer. It was just that his writing had often taken a turn into what most teachers would call “sexually explicit.” 

The teacher came into the room and began her lesson. “Class please open up your copy of Othello to page 69.” Ryan opened his book and heard some students laugh at the page number but the teacher just rolled her eyes. 

Ryan stared at the clock for the majority of the period. He’s had English 8th period every year since freshman year and that's a streak that he'd like to continue next year when he's a senior. But 8th period always seemed to last the longest. 

After 42 long minutes, the bell finally rang. He packed up his stuff said “bye” to Larry and headed out the door and walked into his study hall which thankfully was on the same floor. 

He walked into the room and made his way over to the teacher's desk and signed himself and Lindsay in so they would be marked as cutting. 

Lindsay walked in just as the bell rang and sat down next to Ryan. 

“Hey, I signed you in.” Ryan greeted her. 

“Cool thanks. I've got some something to tell you.” Lindsay said practically squirming in her seat. 

Ryan let out a chuckle “You look like you're going to explode what is it?” 

“I was talking to Kara, Arryn, and Barb and they said that there's gonna be a new kid moving from Boston on Monday. He's also in sophomore year.” Lindsay said excitedly. 

“Does this kid have a name or will we be just calling him the new kid.” Ryan retorted with a smirk on his face. 

“Yes he does, his name is Jeremy.” Lindsay said and gave him a punch in the arm. 

They talked about Jeremy and how he was shocked that the 4 of them haven't already found his Instagram, Twitter, and street address yet. When he looked at the clock and saw that there were only 10 minutes left in the period and he had to give Mr. Heyman his ideas for the musical before school ended today. 

“Hey Linds I'll see you tomorrow at Michael’s, I gotta find Mr. Heyman.” Ryan said as he grabbed his bag and practically ran out the room. 

He headed down the nearest staircase and ran from the top left section of the school to the bottom right section of it. When he got to the auditorium he found Mr. Heyman sitting on the stage who looked at him when the door opened. 

“Ryan! Have you come up with any good ideas for the musical this year?” Mr. Heyman spoke quickly and sometimes he would ramble on about god knows what but he was a good drama teacher. 

“Well, I was thinking we could do Rocky Horror this year. I know I might not be the most school appropriate musical but it could be fun.” Ryan said kinda nervously, hoping Meg’s choice wouldn't get him into trouble. 

“I'll write it down and talk to the department about it and let you know on Monday.” Mr. Heyman waved goodbye and Ryan returned the gesture as he walked out of the building and went to the parking lot and looked for his car. 

When he got home he unlocked the door and saw that his parents weren't home. He walked into the kitchen grabbed a Diet Coke and went up the stairs into his room. 

Opening the door, he threw down his bag into the corner of the room and checked his phone to see he had a message from Michael. 

**From: Michael Jones 2:30 pm**

“Come over at 1:30 tomorrow. Bring $10 for pizza.” 

**To: Michael Jones 2:45 pm**

“Cool. See you then.” 

Ryan put his phone on the charger and booted up his computer and looked for a game to play on Steam. After scrolling through his library he picked Fallout 4. 

He hadn't realized how long he'd been playing until he heard a knock on his door. “Come in.” He said as he pushed his game and turned around and spun his chair around. 

“Hey sweetie how was your day?” Ryan's mom came into his room and sat on his bed. 

“Same old same old.” Ryan answered her. “Oh, and can I go to Michael’s tomorrow at 1:30?” 

“Of course you can. Come down stairs I got take out.” She said as she left his room. 

Ryan followed her down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. His mom handed him a plate and began to put food on it. When he was done he went over to the couch and sat down next to his mom. 

They watched a movie together while they ate and by the time the movie was over she had fallen asleep. He stood up, grabbed both of their plates, and put them into the sink. 

He carefully woke his mom up and she went into her bedroom. Ryan headed up the stairs after her and entered his room. 

He changed into a pair of pajama pants and an old t-shirt before getting into his bed. Ryan leaned over to his nightstand grabbed the remote, put on some show, and fell asleep. 

Ryan woke up the next morning at around 11. He grabbed his phone off of the charger and squinted trying to quickly lower the brightness before he went blind. 

He saw that he had no messages and chose to just lie in bed before getting into the shower. He played a few games on his phone to pass the time before deciding to take a shower. 

He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. While he was waiting he looked in the mirror to see if there was any change in the color of his eyes, even the slightest one. Sadly, there's wasn't a change Ryan sighed and began to stop off his pajamas and got into the shower. 

The hot water felt nice. He wet his hair and shampooed it. After washing it out he moved on to adding conditioner and when he rinsed that out he just stood in the shower. He let the water splash down on his back and cleared his mind. 

After spending a reasonable amount of time just standing there he turned off the water and wrapped the towel around his head to quickly dry off his hair before wrapping it around his waist. 

When Ryan walked out of the bathroom the sudden change in air temperature caused him to shiver. He quickly ran into his room and threw on the first set of clean clothes he could find, which was a green t-shirt and a pair of jeans or as his friends called them “dad jeans”. 

He grabbed his phone and went downstairs to make himself some breakfast. Ryan popped two frozen waffles in the toaster and while they were heating up he opened the fridge to get the syrup and the butter. Within the next minute or two, the waffles were done and Ryan began to spread some butter and put syrup on them. 

He grabbed the milk from the fridge and poured himself a cup. He walked over to the couch and sat down and began to eat. 

When he finished eating he put his plate and cup in the sink and then grabbed a sweater off the hook and began the drive to Michael’s house. 

About 15 minutes later Ryan pulled into Michael's driveway, he walked over to the door and gave a few strong knocks. 

Lindsay answered the door, gave him a hug, and told him to come in. Ryan took off his shoes and jacket and put them near the front door. 

As Ryan went to go sit on the couch next to Gavin, Michael came into the room with his hands full of extra controllers. He gave them each one and started up the game. 

“We gotta do 50 turns boi.” Gavin said admittedly. 

“No fucking way! We'll be here forever and Ryan might murder you.” Michael said loudly. 

“What do you mean?!” Ryan threw his hands up in the air. 

“Dude you take the only two classes that the school offers about how to murder someone and how to get away with murdering someone in court.” Michael said looking back over at him.  

Ryan crossed his arms and muttered “fine.” 

“We’ll do it one day, Gav but Meg has to be here, though.” 

Gavin nodded his head and they began to pick their characters. Lindsay picked Peach, Michael with Yoshi, Gavin choose Birdo, and Ryan got Dry Bones. 

The game lasted roughly an hour and a half with some of the highlights being Gavin got 3 stars in a single turn and then Michael stole 2 of them in the very next turn.  Ryan got his very star during the last 5 turns. 

In the end, Michael came in first, Lindsay in second, Gavin in third, and Ryan in last. 

Michael switched off the game and ordered a few pizzas. After the order, he grabbed the TV remote and put on possibly the worst movie ever created. The entire time they watched the movie the four of them were bitching about how there was no story or how poorly lit the movie was.  

When the god awful movie was over Michael turned the Wii back on and loaded Super Smash Brothers. Ryan actually did better than he thought he would, getting a few kills during the first game which caused some squawking from Gavin everytime he got killed making everyone in the room laugh. To Ryan’s surprise, he actually won the second game they played. 

The four of them lost track of time until he looked at his phone and saw it 10 o’clock. He gave hugs and said goodbye to everyone while walking over to put his shoes on and get his sweater. 

The drive home from Michael’s was shorter mainly because there were barely any cars since it was rather late. He pulled into the driveway right beside his mother’s car. He opened the door and saw all the lights were off, he quietly took off his shoes. Since he was not feeling all that tired he took a seat on the couch, threw his phone on the charger, pulled a blanket over himself, turned on Netflix, and began watching It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. 

Ryan woke up the next morning to smell of his mom cooking breakfast. He sat up and turned around to look at her with half open eyes and softly muttered “Morning.” 

“Well good morning to you too sleeping beauty.” Ryan’s mom said with a soft laugh. “Any plans for today?” she asked while handing him a plate and joining him on the couch. 

“Nah probably just hanging round here. Doing some homework and video games.” Ryan said before shoving a forkful of pancake into his mouth. 

“I gotta head to the mall and grab some things. Is there anything you need?” she asked.

Ryan shook his head no and kept eating. When the two of them were both finished his mother grabbed their plates and then left for the mall.

The rest of Ryan’s Sunday was pretty uneventful. He finished up his homework and then watched movies while playing on his phone for the rest of the day. 

Somehow doing nothing all day has got to be one of the most tiring things a person can do. Eventually, he got tired and made the journey up the stairs to his room. Putting on some pajamas from the top of his hamper he crawled into bed and closed his eyes. His body was at that state where he was barely awake but still dreaming. 

Ryan was completely at peace until his phone dinged loudly. 

“I swear to god whoever that is I will personally murder them tomorrow.” Ryan thought angrily to himself as he turned on his phone. 

**From: Lindsay Tuggey 12:20 am**

“You ready to meet Jeremy tomorrow?”

Ryan smiled a little at her text but was still quite annoyed at the fact that she couldn’t text this to him at any time other than when he was going to sleep. 

He quickly texted her back before going to bed.

**To: Lindsay Tuggey 12:21 am**

“Yes. Now let me sleep so you can live to meet him tomorrow.”

His phone dinged once more but he ignored it and went to sleep. 

For the first time in a while, he was excited to go to school tomorrow.    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AO3 HAS CRASHED 4 TIMES NOW AS I'M TRYING TO UPLOAD THIS STORY HOLY FUCK!  
> Also the end notes are being really weird and I'm trying my hardest to fix them.  
> Congrats on making it to the end of the first chapter! Hope you liked it! Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day! (: ~Kate


	2. A Splash of Green in a Sea of Brown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! A new chapter already! I've been super jazzed to write this so I gotta write whenever I get new ideas.  
> Also, this has affected the way I text my friends because I'll add in like proper punctuation instead of treating each sentence like a single message.  
> Anyways enjoy the chapter!

Ryan woke up 30 minutes before his alarm went off the next morning. He didn’t know why he was so excited to meet him he just was. For the next 20 minutes, Ryan did a mix of staring at the ceiling and goofing around on his phone. 

Finally deciding to get his lazy ass out of bed, and walked into the bathroom. Ryan looked hopefully in the mirror looking for any slight differences in the color of his eyes and turned on the shower in defeat when he saw that they were the same as yesterday and the past 16 years. 

Stripping off his clothes he jumped into the water and flinching at how cold it was. Ryan cursed himself for being impatient and just getting in. After standing as far away as humanly possible from the stream of ice coming from his shower head for a minute, he manned up and just stood in the stream. 

Quickly getting in and out of the shower as soon as possible he towel dried his hair and wrapped the towel around his waist. Stepping back into his room, Ryan opened up his dresser and found a light colored shirt and the darkest pair of jeans he owns. 

After he got dressed, he checked to make sure he had everything he needed in his bag and checked his phone before going downstairs, he had one new message.

**From: Lindsay Tuggey 6:32 am**

“Today’s the day! You ready?”

Ryan knew that Lindsay couldn’t help but snoop into other people's relationships, but he knew that she only did it for the best. But she was talking him up more than she usually does when talking about anyone so It made him think that she knew something he didn’t.

**To: Lindsay Tuggey 6:33 am**

“Yeah. Is there isn’t any reason I shouldn’t be?”

Ryan texted her back curious of the response he’d get. His phone buzzed in his hand while he was getting his jacket and keys.

**From Lindsay Tuggey 6:35 am**

“Nope. (:”

Ryan looked over the text and walked to his car and drove to the nearest deli and got some breakfast.

When Ryan got to school, he opened up his locker and put his jacket in and grabbed the stuff he needed for his first period. 

Ryan enjoyed his first period, he was taking Marine Ecology for the sole reason that Geoff and Jack took it last year and told him that it was a total blow off class. Mainly because was never there so all they do is watch movies. Plus Michael and Gavin were in his class too! 

Ryan strolled through the door and put the last bit of the sandwich in his mouth and then threw out the wrapper. He walked over to his seat and said morning to Michael and Gavin. 

“Hey, Ryan you want one?” Michael said opening up a box of kolaches with a smile. Ryan gladly accepted him. 

The substitute started the movie and everyone either fell asleep or talked to their friends. 

Halfway through the period Ryan, Michael, and Gavin heard something that caught their attention. 

“Um hi my name is Jeremy Dooley and I'm new here. Are you Ms. G.” Jeremy said nervously. 

“Well I'm the sub for this class but I'll make you down on the attendance for when Ms. G comes. There's an empty chair in the back by those three boys.” She pointed at where Ryan and his friends were sitting. 

Jeremy thanked her and walked over to where Ryan and everyone else was sitting. 

Jeremy sat down and introduced himself “Hi. I'm Jeremy and I just moved here from Boston. Oh, and I'm also a sophomore.” His voice was shaky but he was smiling. 

Gavin's face lit up and began to introduce the group to Jeremy. “I'm Gavin. This is Micoo, we're both sophomores and that's Ryan he's a junior.” 

“Michael! Dude you're from Boston! I'm from Jersey! East coast brothers!” Michael said loudly getting him a few looks from the other kids. “Here have one.” Michael opened up the box and gave Jeremy one. 

Jeremy thanked him and pulled out his schedule to show his new friends. 

“You've got lunch with all of us! That's great! You've also got chemistry with me and Trevor.” Gavin said while grabbing the paper. 

“Gavin let other people see!” Michael took the paper back and smacked Gavin. “Let's see gym with Lindsay and me, art with Lindsay but I think Griffon goes in there too sometimes, and video with Matt and Trevor.” Michael slid the paper over to Ryan. 

“Hmm, your next class is right near my next one so I can walk you there. Also, you have forensics and criminal justice with Jack, Geoff and me.” Ryan said as he handed the paper back to Jeremy. Michael and Gavin started laughing but Ryan and Jeremy were confused. 

“Do I even wanna know?” Ryan said looking at Gavin. 

“It's just that you got the two murder classes with Ryan.” Gavin said in between laughs. 

“So!” Ryan said defensively. 

“When you first moved here everyone thought you lived on a farm and had a weird thing with cows.” Michael chimed in while still laughing and Jeremy began to laugh too. 

“I honestly don't even know how that stuff starts.” Ryan said letting out a few laughs at the thought of the ridiculous rumor. 

The bell rang and they began to leave with Jeremy sticking close by Ryan. 

“Sorry if any of those rumors freaked you out. Guess that's what happens when you're theater kid.” Ryan said shrugging his shoulders. 

“Nah don't worry about it. I am kinda curious about how those rumors start, though.” Jeremy nudged Ryan. 

“Probably something I've said out of context. Your room is right here and I'm right next door. So we can walk to forensics if you wanna.” Ryan said softly. 

“Sounds great see you then.” Jeremy smiled and walked into the room. 

Before the period Ryan sent a quick text to Lindsay. 

**To: Lindsay Tuggey 8:13 am**

“Jeremy is in my first period he's nice. He's also got some classes you.”

He put his phone on his desk and sometime during the period it buzzed. Nonchalantly Ryan pushed it closer to him reading Lindsay's message. 

**From: Lindsay Tuggey 8:34 am**

“(;” 

Ryan smirked at his phone and pushed it away. He looked up at the board and tried to focus on taking notes.

The rest of U.S. History felt like an eternity. Even though he and Jeremy didn't talk much during first period and when they walked together just now but Ryan wanted to be with Jeremy. He just felt like they had connected. 

Finally, the bell had rang and Ryan basically ran out of the classroom to meet Jeremy. He waited outside the door until Jeremy came out. 

“Hey, long time no see.” Jeremy said chuckling. 

“Definitely. Ready for third period?” Ryan joined in on his laughing. 

Jeremy nodded and they began to walk, as Ryan saw Jeremy heading to the nearest staircase he pulled him away “Those stairs will lead you into the hallways towards guidance, they're a real bitch to get through especially after lunch.” 

Jeremy nodded again and continued to follow Ryan. During their little walk, Jeremy asked him about his weekend, when Ryan talked about how he played Mario Party and Super Smash Bros with Michael, Gavin, and Lindsay Jeremy's face lit up. 

“Mario Party's great! So I'm guessing you guys are all into video games.” Jeremy said enthusiastically. 

“Very into and also very bad at. I did come in last though but let the record show that I did get one star on my own, though.” Ryan smiled. 

When they got into the classroom Jeremy walked over to the teacher's desk and gave his new kid speech. 

The teacher smiled at him and handed him a packet and looked around the room quickly “Okay since you walked in with Ryan you can sit with him and his friends.” 

Jeremy thanked him and followed Ryan towards the empty desk in his little cluster in the back of the room. 

“Morning Ryan.” Jack looked at Jeremy for a second and then said “You must be new, I think Caiti was telling me that someone new was coming. I'm Jack.” 

Just before Jeremy was about to speak someone walked in and took the seat behind Jack. Just as the teacher began to speak he leaned over to Jeremy and told him his name “Geoff.” 

“Jeremy.” He quickly said before they faced the teacher who handed everyone but Jeremy a packet. 

“Alright, class today we are going to do a project on serial killers. Which is due at the end of the week. You can work alone or with groups no bigger than three. There's a sheet of paper going around write your group members down. In that packet, there's a list of people to choose from, only one killer per group. Tomorrow we'll pick killers in a random order so have more than one choice. Use the rest of the time to find a group and look through the packet.” 

After she finished rambling Ryan turned around to face Jeremy. “Partners?”

“Sounds good. Who should we do our project on?” Jeremy asked. 

Before Ryan could say something back he heard Jack mumble something to Geoff “They should do it on Ryan.” The two of them both started to laugh. 

Ryan rolled his eyes and looked into the packet. 

Just before the bell rang they made their list of decisions. The bell rang and Jeremy was the only getting up, Ryan poked at his side “Announcements. Some kids come in late but everyone is usually here by 3rd.” 

“Gotcha.” Jeremy said quickly as he sat down. 

After the announcements, the bell rang again and everyone got up and left. Jack offered to take Jeremy to his next class because Caiti had study hall a few rooms over and he wanted to see her. 

Ryan was walking to his next class and didn't pay attention to anything to the teacher was saying. Instead of taking notes he drew swirls in his notebook. When that class ended, he thought for second about where he was going to next. 

Gym. Ryan hated going to gym class, not because he was out of shape. Ryan worked out every now and again but he hated going because he had no friends, which absolutely sucked. 

Sighing he headed to the gym and entered the locker room. After putting in his combination he grabbed his gym clothes and changed and just as he was going to put his phone into his locker he heard someone around him say “Ugh I'm really not about running the mile today.” Shit, Ryan thought to himself, he grabbed his phone out of his locker and attached his headphones. The only good thing about the mile was that you could listen to your own music. 

Closing up his locker he walked into the gym and stood by his teacher and few other kids in his class. When the class started they all headed outside and began to warm up. 

Ryan put in his headphones and began to run. He finished somewhere around the 7-minute mark, which wasn't the fastest but it also wasn't the slowest. He was one of the last guys to finish but then again his gym class was mostly girls. 

After he recorded his results with the teacher, he was allowed to go back inside and change. His walk back to the locker room was slow but he got there with more than enough time to change. 

When he was finished he left the locker room and took out his wallet and got the biggest water bottle from the vending machine and just hung out and checked his phone. 

A few minutes later the bell rang and Ryan walked to his next class, criminal justice which he liked a lot, Jack, Geoff, and now Jeremy is in that class. It also helped that the teacher who taught his U.S. History class was also his criminal justice teacher and he was pretty chill. 

Ryan walked into the class after the bell rang. He quickly walked to his seat behind Geoff. 

“Geoff comes to class before the bell and

Ryan is late, the world must be ending.” The teacher said while he was standing and taking attendance. 

“Oh yeah, Geoff it's the mile today in gym.” Ryan told Geoff so he knew not to absolutely stuff his face during lunch. 

“Fuck thanks for telling me.” Geoff said quietly. 

Jeremy leaned over to Ryan and tapped him on the shoulder “Hey can I give you my number? Ya know for the project and stuff.” 

“Yeah definitely.” Ryan unlocked his phone and handed it to Jeremy. He looked at Jeremy's face and his face seemed a bit redder than usual. 

Jeremy gave him his phone back and Ryan quickly texted him. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 11:20 am**

“Hey, it's Ryan.”

The class ended and the four of them left. Caiti and Griffon were waiting outside for them so they could all go to lunch together. Jeremy had met Griffon during his art period so he introduced himself to Caiti.

When they got to lunch they each fumbled around their bags to find an ID card that said “Period 7 Lunch” on it, since Jeremy didn't have one yet he just held out his schedule and told the person checking it that he was new. 

After he got in, he followed Ryan and everyone else to a table in the back corner of the room. Gavin and next to him was a girl with purple hair were already sitting down and it looks like they've pulled a few chairs from other tables to accommodate the size of their group. 

Everyone sat down and Ryan patted the empty spot next to him for Jeremy to sit down at. Jeremy took the offer and sat down. 

Jeremy heard his name being called and looked over to where it was coming from. The girl with purple hair leaned over and introduced herself “Hey I'm Meg. Gavin told me about you.” 

“All good things I hope.” Jeremy laughed nervously and Meg nodded her head. 

Michael and Lindsay came in and sat down next to Gavin and Meg. 

Once everyone was seated and had their lunch they began to talk about their weekends. 

“Y'all free this weekend? I was thinking we could go see a movie then come back to my place. Parents aren't gonna be home.” Jack said. 

Everyone started agreeing and looking up movie times on their phones when Ryan looked over at Jeremy and asked: “You gonna come?” 

A faint hint of red splashed on Jeremy's cheeks “Well I don't want to invite myself somewhere that I'm not wanted.” Jeremy looked down at the table. 

“Dude, of course, you're invited! You're cool and our friend.” Jack said and everyone nodded in agreement. 

Gavin and Jeremy began telling a story about how Trevor almost blew himself up in chemistry today. When Ryan looked at Meg and Lindsay whispering about something, he dismissed them figuring it was just girl stuff or drama that he didn't need to know about and went back to listening to Jeremy and Gavin tell their story. 

As he looked at Jeremy he saw a pretty big chunk of color in Jeremy's hair and asked him about it. “Uh, Jeremy there's something green in your hair.” Ryan could feel his face heat up. 

“Yeah I know, during art Lindsay bumped into me and got paint in my hair. I tried washing it out but I guess it's still there.” Jeremy looked at Lindsay with a fake anger and started to laugh a little. 

“Hey in my defense it's a good look on you!” Lindsay said and the rest of the table let out a few laughs. 

Ryan saw Meg and Lindsay take a few glances at him and then went back to whispering. Okay, they definitely knew something he didn't. 

Lunch was over before they knew it and as Geoff walked to go to gym Ryan heard Jack call out “Have fun running the mile!” Geoff turned around and politely flipped him off. 

Everyone laughed and walked to their own classes. 

Ryan walked into English and his phone buzzed. 

**From: Lindsay Tuggey 1:37 pm**

“Yo not gonna be in study hall, gotta finish up an art project.”

**To: Lindsay Tuggey 1:38 pm**

“Cool. See ya tomorrow.”

Ryan pulled out his book and tried his best not to fall asleep but without realizing it he did. The loudness of the bell woke him and he stretched a little before getting out of his chair. 

Ryan got to study hall and signed himself in, he kinda wished Lindsay was there so that he could find out what she and Meg were talking about during lunch. 

Ryan decided to use his study hall time and actually do his math homework. Just as he finished the bell rang. Ryan but his stuff in his bag and headed for his locker. He got his jacket and fished his car keys out of his bag. 

When he found his car in the parking Ryan got in and he got a text from his mom telling him that she'll be working late. Ryan texted her back and began to drive home. 

Unlocking the door to his house he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. Once he got inside he checked the message. 

**From: Unknown Number 2:37 pm**

“Yo, it's Jeremy. Just got all the paint out of my hair. If you're not doing anything wanna maybe hang out and work on this project?” 

Ryan saved Jeremy's contact and answered him back. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 2:38 pm**

“Yeah sounds good. There’s a little coffee shop in town that’s pretty chill. We could head there and I can pick you up.” 

Ryan ran up to his room and grabbed his laptop, his forensics notebook, and put it in a bag. Ryan left his house, locked the front door, and got into his car. While he was getting into his car Ryan got another text from Jeremy. 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 2:43 pm**

“Yeah sounds great here’s my address.”

Ryan punched the address into the car’s GPS and answered Jeremy’s message. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 2:50 pm**

“On my way now.”

Ryan began to drive and didn’t realize how close to him Jeremy lived. When Ryan got to Jeremy’s house sent him a quick text telling him that he was here. A few seconds later Jeremy appeared. 

“Hey, thanks for the ride.” Jeremy said as he got into Ryan’s car.

“No problem. It’s good that we're doing this now cause Geoff can be a bit distracting in class.” Ryan commented as he drove into town.

Jeremy laughed and spoke again “Yeah I can see that.”

Ryan pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop and they both went inside. Jeremy found an open table and put his and Ryan’s stuff down. 

“You want anything?” Ryan asked as he began walking towards the barista counter. 

“Just get me whatever you get.” Jeremy handed him some money and opened up his laptop to begin researching. 

Ryan came back a few minutes later holding up two mugs. Jeremy took one as Ryan sat down. Jeremy buried his face in the hot drink and muttered something that sounded like “thanks”. 

About 2 hours later they practically finished their entire project. Ryan shut his laptop and stretched out his arms “So all we need to do tomorrow is add the pictures.”

“Yep!” Jeremy said popping the p. The two of them stayed and talked for a bit, Ryan mostly listened about the things Jeremy did in Boston. Ryan enjoyed listening to Jeremy talk, he also enjoyed Jeremy’s laugh it was one of those laughs that were contagious, mainly Ryan just enjoyed being with Jeremy. 

Eventually, they went home and after Ryan dropped off Jeremy the rest of his evening was uneventful. His mom still wasn’t home so he just heated up some leftovers from the night before, walked up the stairs to his room, put on a movie, and began to eat. 

His phone dinged and when he checked it he saw that it was from Jeremy.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 7:15 pm**

“Today was fun, can’t wait for Saturday!”

Ryan smiled and texted him back. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 7:15 pm**

“Definitely! Big group hangouts get kinda wild hopefully, we won’t get kicked out of the theater again.” 

As he sent that text he watched his screen as he saw that Jeremy was typing.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 7:16 pm**

“No way! What happened?”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 7:16 pm**

“I don’t really remember what happened but it was most likely Geoff, Gavin, and Michael’s fault.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 7:17 pm**

“From what I’ve seen today that sounds about right.”

They texted each other for a while and eventually, Ryan fell asleep with his phone in his lap. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad you made it to the end of this chapter! The notes were being kinda weird so hopefully, this will fix that.   
> Anyways, comments and kudos are hella appreciated.   
> Have a lovely day (: ~ Kate


	3. I Guess it Rains Down in Austin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have gotten a little carried away with the length of this one but hey it adds to the word count! Also, I would feel bad if talked a lot about the musical but didn't include it in the chapter.

The next morning Ryan woke up and followed his usual routine: shower, check for any minor changes in his eyes, get dressed, drive to the deli for breakfast, and go to class. But today was a special day for two reasons first, today was one of the rare days where it rained in Austin, and by the fact that it was pouring and that he heard a loud clap of thunder meaning he would need more than a light sweater. 

While looking for something more suited for the weather Ryan’s phone dinged. 

**From: Meg Turney 6:30 am**

“The announcement for the musical are today which means auditions are tomorrow!”

Ryan grinned and sent her a text back 

**To: Meg Turney 6:31 am**

“Can’t wait! Also, did you tell me to tell Mr. Heyman to do Rocky Horror just so you can see someone shirtless as Rocky?”

Ryan put his phone into his pocket and quickly ran to his car. He managed to get into his car only somewhat wet which he was counting as a win. Just as he put on his seat belt his phone dinged once again. 

**From: Meg Turney 6:36 am**

“(;”

Ryan read over her text and laughed a little.

He skipped the deli and instead went to Dunkin Donuts because it was closer so hopefully he would be able to get a spot closer to the school. After getting his food and drink Ryan drove towards the school and saw that the closest spot was all the way down the street. 

Ryan threw his food into his bag and began to make the long walk towards the building. As he made his way closer to the school he had two options: keep going down the road which will take longer or he could hop the fence and go down the hill. 

Ryan decided he was feeling adventurous and hopped the fence. As he was lifting his left leg onto the fence he really felt how sore it was from running the mile yesterday. 

Surprisingly he got over the fence without any harm and his pants weren't even that wet! This was going better than he thought. 

But then as he was walking down the hill he lost his footing causing him to slip and fall. Silently cursing to himself Ryan got up and began to wipe some dirt off himself. On the bright side, he was now at the bottom of the hill. 

Looking both ways he ran across the parking lot and into the school. He some looks from people walking by the entrance but he ignored them and went to his locker. 

When he got there he began putting his wet jacket in when he saw Lindsay and Barbara walking towards him. 

“Damn Ryan what happened to you? You look like you lost a fight with the ground.” Lindsay said making the others laugh. 

“Tried to go down the hill and fell.” Ryan replied nonchalantly.

“Looks like your plan went downhill.” Barbara said nudging Ryan's shoulder and while being the only person laughing. 

They both rolled their eyes at her and Ryan went to his class. Surprisingly their teacher was there, he waved at her and walked towards his friends. 

When he took a spot at the table and Michael immediately opened up his mouth. 

“Dude you look like shit.” 

“Yes, I know. I fell down the hill this morning.” Ryan responded bluntly.

“Wot happened! Did your legs not know they were legs!” Gavin practically shouted. 

“What does that even mean!” Ryan exclaimed. 

Everyone at their table laughed and they continued talking while the teacher continued the movie. 

Throughout the period Ryan kept shifting around in his chair. No one really paid any mind to it except Jeremy gave him a few looks but never really pressed on the subject. 

As the boys were talking the bell rang, they got up and began to walk towards their next classes. Michael went off with Gavin and Jeremy followed Ryan. 

“Seems like it doesn't rain here a lot does it Rye?” Jeremy broke their silence. 

“Nah not really. Does it rain a lot in Boston?” Ryan questioned trying to keep up their conversation. 

“We get our fair share of rain and snow.” Jeremy answered him and then walked into his classroom. 

Ryan walked into his history class and got out his note packet. During the class Ryan kept shifting uncomfortably in his chair, his pants were still wet and it was bothering him. Other than that nothing really that interesting happened in that period but it was over fairly quickly. 

The bell rang and Ryan walked out of the class excited to see Jeremy, he wasn't sure why he was but he brushed off the thought and waited for Jeremy outside his class. 

“Hey, how was history?” Jeremy asked in a soft voice because he was still extremely tired, 

“Same old same old, but with the added bonus of squirming around in wet pants. But they're mostly dry now.” 

Jeremy nodded and they began their walk to forensics together. 

“Hey before we go I gotta stop at my locker wanna come with?” Jeremy spoke. 

“Yeah sure I mean our project is pretty much done anyways.” Ryan said with a smile. 

When they got to Jeremy's locker he spun the lock and opened it up. He put some stuff away and grabbed a book and what he would guess was a bag of gym clothes. 

Jeremy shut his locker and began their walk to class. 

They walked in late but their teacher didn't seem to mind all that much. They quickly took their seats next to Jack and Geoff. 

“Well look who decided to show up.” Geoff said laughing. 

“You guys too busy making out in the hallway?” Jack added and started to laugh. 

On cue they both blushed which only made Geoff and Jack laugh harder. 

When the laughter settled down Jack and Geoff continued to work on their project, Jack noticed them not working and asked them “Taking the day off?” He said while nudging Ryan's shoulder. 

“We did most of it yesterday at a coffee shop in town.” Jeremy said trying to conceal his blushing face. 

“Sounds like a nice date.” Jack smirked and Ryan rolled his eyes. 

Ryan and Jeremy talked for the rest of the period while Geoff and Jack poked fun at them and worked on the project. 

The bell for announcements rang and Ryan listened to them with a smile on his face “This year the drama club is putting on The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the musical this year. Auditions will be held throughout the next two weeks starting tomorrow. Any students interested in auditioning should go to the auditorium after school tomorrow with a song to audition with.” 

After the announcement Ryan's phone buzzed. 

**From: Meg Turney 9:45 am**

“The musical is gonna be so much fun! Tomorrow's gonna be great!”

Ryan sent Meg a text before as the bell was ringing. 

**To: Meg Turney 9:46 am**

“Can't wait! Gotta think of something to sing for auditions though.” 

Ryan walked to his next class and got out his phone to see if Meg texted him back. 

**From: Meg Turney 9:48 am**

“We'll talk about during lunch! Talk then, gotta head to class.” 

Ryan put his phone in his pocket and got his notebook out. He spent the period absentmindedly copying down math problems and hoping that the teacher didn't call on him. 

Finally the period ended and Ryan went to study hall and decided on his way there that he was going to take a nap for the period. 

He walked into the class and signed in, he found a spot in the back corner. He saw Adam and tapped him on his shoulder. 

Ryan knew Adam since he did stage crew for the drama club he was also in his grade. He also liked Adam, even though he did look rather intimidating, given the fact that Adam was bigger than most the kids in their grade also the beard and the nose ring made him look tougher. But he was actually one of the nicest kids in their grade. 

“Hey Adam can you do me a favor?” Ryan asked politely. 

“Yeah sure man what do ya need?” Adam leaned over to him. 

“When this period is over do you think you could wake me up?” Ryan asked him. 

“Yeah man totally.” Adam smiled and Ryan put his head down on the desk. 

40 minutes later Adam poked Ryan on the side and told him that the period is almost over, Ryan lifted his head off the desk and stretched out. 

“Thanks a lot, man I really needed this nap.” Ryan said while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

“No problem man you doing the musical this year?” Adam asked. 

“Yeah definitely are you still doing stage crew?” Ryan responded. 

“Yeah actually Mr. Heyman promoted me to the head of stage crew.” Adam smiled. 

“That's great! I'll see you at auditions tomorrow then.” 

The bell rang and Ryan stopped at his locker to get his lunch before going to criminal justice. 

Today he made it to class on time and sat down by Jeremy, Jack, and Geoff. They spent the class learning about different types of felonies and everyone poked fun at Ryan throughout the period. 

The bell rang and the four of them waited outside the class for Caiti and Griffon. When they met up with them they all walked to lunch together. 

When they all got to the lunchroom they found Meg and Gavin already sitting at the table. 

“Ryan! Have you picked out a song yet?” Meg exclaimed as her face lit up. 

“Not yet. Anything you think I should sing?” Ryan asked her. He could always do a song from the musical but he didn’t want to. 

She thought about it for a moment before shouting out “You should do Africa by Toto!” 

“That sounds good thanks, Meg.” Ryan smiled at her and heard Jack elaborate on the plans for the weekend that he brought up yesterday. 

“Okay so that new Logan movie comes out on Friday we could go see and then we could go back to my place and some of y'all can stay the night.” Jack announced to the group. 

“We could also do it Friday since we have off because there is some teacher’s conference that they don’t want us to be in school for.” Gavin added.

“Saturday would be better because hopefully more people see it Friday night so there's fewer people on Saturday and therefore a less of a chance to get kicked out.” Michael said while glaring at Gavin for the last part of his comment. 

They nodded in agreement to the plans being made. 

“Us getting kicked out was just as much your fault as it was mine boi!” Gavin squawked. 

“But you started it and that’s all that matters.” Michael said as he and Gavin bickered for a while. 

“Look that doesn’t matter who started it. What matters is that you’re both idiots and both are equally responsible for getting us kicked out of the theater.” Geoff said trying to shut the two up. 

“Geoff are you forgetting 

Ryan kinda zoned out until a familiar voice call his name. 

“Ryan. Ryan. Anyone in there buddy?” Jeremy said as he waved his hand in front of Ryan's face causing him to come back to reality. 

“Yeah yeah I'm good.” Ryan felt the heat rising up to his face. “So um what were we talking about?” He continued.

“Well that new Ghost Wildlands game comes out this week and we were wondering if you’d wanna come to GameStop with us for the midnight release?” Jeremy said while pointing at Jack. 

“Yeah sure sounds like fun. Just let me know about it throughout the week.” Ryan said with a soft smile and tried to get his face to a normal color. 

Right before the bell rang he saw Caiti, Griffon, Lindsay, and Meg all give each other a look before looking back at their phones. 

The bell rang and when Jeremy got up Lindsay and Meg almost ran to his side and started to talk to him. Ryan definitely knew that there was some bigger picture he was missing and now all the girls knew about it. 

Ryan started his walk towards his English class and couldn’t get that thought out of his head. He’d have to ask her in study hall for sure. 

Entering his English class he saw that there was a substitute and was thankful that he wouldn't have to do anything today. He sat at his desk and looked at the board blankly. He heard the door open and saw Larry walk in and then immediately go for the door to leave the class, When the sub pressed him about where he was going he just told he that he was going to music lessons which were a complete lie but he wasn’t going to be the one to ruin Larry’s fun.

Ryan spent the rest of the period not reading the assigned book but instead reading some mystery novel that he kept in his bag. 

The bell and rang and Ryan was eager to get to study hall and try to see what Lindsay knew. 

Surprisingly when he walked into the class Lindsay was there with Meg, he didn’t even know that she had off this period. 

“Ryan! Come take a seat.” Meg said excitedly. 

He sat down on the top of a desk next to them and spoke: “Alright I know you know something and there’s a 99% chance it’s about me so spill it.” 

“Alright alright, you’re pretty damn observant Haywood but so am I, it’s kinda super obvious that you have a crush on Jeremy.” Lindsay said bluntly. 

“What!” Ryan gasped and for sure he felt that he was blushing. He barely knew Jeremy, he’d only been here for two days! 

“Aw come on Rye Bread anytime the boy is mentioned you start blushing.” Meg said as she poked his side. 

Ryan didn't say anything for a moment he just thought about the two days he'd spent with Jeremy. He enjoyed the time they spent together walking in the halls from class to class and he had a good time with him at the coffee shop listening to him talk and working on the project together. 

But knowing someone for only two days can't justify going out someone, can it? Besides he didn't even know if Jeremy was gay, it would be wrong of him to push a crush on someone who didn't like him like that it would just make things awkward. 

Ryan took a deep breath and quietly said “Alright so maybe I have the smallest crush on him but it's nothing and I don't want to make things weird. So don't try and play Cupid, if it happens then great and if it doesn't then we'll be friends.” 

Lindsay and Meg both nodded and gave each other a quick look that Ryan just rolled his eyes at. 

The final bell of the day rang and they all walked out together and talked about the auditions for the musical tomorrow. 

They eventually split ways and Ryan walked out the main exit of the school to see that it was still raining. He took one look at the hill and decided not to walk up it, given how well he went down it this morning. 

Ryan quickly jogged up the road to get to his car but it was pouring harder than it was this morning so when he got to his car he was drenched. 

He sat in his car and turned on the heat. Ryans drive home was a quick one, he got out of his car and ran to the front door and was glad that it was unlocked. 

Ryan's mom looked at him and said“Ryan honey you're soaking wet! Your jacket and pants are covered in mud, take those off I'll throw them in the wash. Stay on the mat, let me get you a towel and some dry clothes.” She ran off to the bathroom and came back quickly with a big fluffy towel and some clean pajama pants. 

Ryan thanked her and put on the dry pants and then wrapped himself in the towel. Once he decided he was dry he took off the towel and wrapped it around his head. 

He laid on the couch and flicked on the TV while absentmindedly played some game on his phone, when a text from Jeremy interrupted him. 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 2:44 pm**

“I'm not sure if you're still up for going to the midnight release with Jack and I but it's on Thursday at midnight at GameStop, Jack said you'd know which one he was talking about it.” 

Ryan read the text with a small smile on his face and quickly typed back a message. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 2:46 pm**

“Definitely and I know where Jack is talking about. I can even pick you up if you'd like.” 

Ryan stared at the screen waiting for the indication that Jeremy was typing to come up. He looked up at the TV until his phone buzzed in his hand making him look away. 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 2:48 pm**

“Actually I found out that Jack lives really close to me so I asked him. But I can't wait, anyways gotta do some stuff. Talk later if not I'll see you tomorrow.” 

Ryan texted him back. Before setting down his phone. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 2:49 pm**

“Okay just let me know if anything changes.”

He got off the couch and walked into the kitchen and made himself a cup of hot cocoa. While it was cooling off he set the mug down on the counter and looked for something to snack on. 

He settled on some chocolate chip cookies and grabbed the mug and brought it into the living room. Ryan placed the mug onto the coffee table and put on some movie that he'd already seen and shut his eyes for what he thought was five minutes. 

When he opened his eyes the movie had changed and it was 7 o'clock. 

Ryan stretched and checked his phone for any new messages. 

The only messages he had were from teachers reminding him when certain assignments were due but other than that nothing too special. 

Ryan got up and decided to call and order a pizza for dinner. After about 15 minutes there was a knock on his door, he grabbed some money and opened up the door. 

He knew the face of the delivery boy but not well enough to know his name. 

“That'll be $15.” The boy said mildly annoyed that he was out in the rain and the cold. 

Ryan handed him the money in his hand and told him to keep the change, the boy thanked him and then sped off in his car. 

Ryan walked into the kitchen and put the box on the counter and grabbed a few slices. 

After he was done eating he put the remaining slices in a plastic bag and put them into the fridge. 

He went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, Ryan checked his eyes in the mirror before it got foggy, when he saw no change in the color he got a little sad but not discouraged, everyone had a soulmate and maybe his just didn't like to do anything to their hair. 

Ryan put a hand over to the shower and once he felt the water was hot enough he stripped off his clothes and went into the hot water. 

The water felt nice against his skin as he thought about the talk he had with Lindsay and Meg today. 

Maybe his crush on Jeremy was a little bit bigger than he had let on but come on, Jeremy was funny, he has a great laugh, he looks good in anything he wears, and he's got a nice face to look at. 

Before any other thoughts came to his mind he quickly shampooed and conditioned his hair and got out of the shower. 

He took a towel off the hook and quickly rubbed it through his hair before wrapping it around his waist. 

Ryan picked his clothes off the floor and put the pajama pants on that his mom gave him since they weren’t really that dirty. 

He got into his bed and grabbed his Xbox controller from off his nightstand and turned on the console. As he went into his game library to look for something to play, he got an invite to a party by Geoff. 

He entered the party, plugged in his mic, and put it on. He was immediately welcomed by Gavin “Ryan I was just about to text you! Wanna play some GTA? We could get a game of offense defense going now that we have 6 an even number of people.” 

Ryan found the game in his collection and launched it, he checked the people in the party and saw a gamertag that he didn’t recognize “JDoolz” he just assumed it was Jeremy. 

Ryan got an invite to the game and entered the lobby. 

“We’re just waiting for Jeremy to get back he said he had to get something to drink and Michael said he’d be right back to.” Jack told him as he was joining. 

“Hey I’m back. Whose BM Vagabond?” Ryan heard Jeremy say. 

“Oh sweet Ryan’s here. We can get the game going now.” Michael spoke he heard Jeremy mutter a faint “Ah.” 

“God damn it you’re gonna let them win again!” Ryan shouted at Gavin as Gavin stopped his car in front of Ryan’s “You idiot! He continued yelling at Gavin. 

The started a new game and Gavin said “How is no one how?” because he was confused at what just happened. 

“Because YOU! Could’ve stopped them!” Ryan exclaimed as he heard everyone else mock him by saying “You.” In the same super villain sounding voice, he did earlier.

They played a few more rounds and every time Ryan said “You.” A little louder than normal, it was immediately followed by the rest of the group shouting it back at him. 

Just as they were about to start another game they all heard Gavin’s mom through Gavin’s mic “Gavin, love it’s bloody 3 in the morning you have school tomorrow and we need to sleep, go to bed.” 

“Alright mum. Guys I gotta go talk to you tomorrow.” Gavin said quietly and signed off.” 

“We should probably all do the same. Goodnight guys.” Jack said as he logged off. 

“Shit I have auditions tomorrow and I need to get to bed. Later guys.” Ryan said as he left the party. Just before he turned off the system he got a notification. 

“JDoolz added you as a friend!” Ryan quickly added him back and then went to bed.

The next morning Ryan got up late and had to rush to get dressed. He didn’t really care what he looked like he just needed to get to school. 

Surprisingly Ryan had a better parking spot than he did yesterday. He headed into the building and went to his first-period class. 

They had a sub once again, so Ryan went to his table and saw Jeremy with his head down on the table probably taking a nap so he sat next to him and did the same. 

The bell rang and they were woken by Michael and Gavin. They thanked them for not just leaving them there and he and Jeremy walked to their next class together in a comfortable silence since they were still both extremely tired.

Ryan could not keep his eyes open and once again fell asleep during history. Luckily he didn’t get into trouble and when he walked out the door Jeremy was there yawning. 

“Did you fall asleep too?” Ryan asked and Jeremy nodded his head yes. 

The two of them walked together and when they entered their classroom they saw Geoff sleeping at his desk and Jack trying his hardest to keep his eyes open. 

They took their seats and Jack gave them a small wave, about 5 minutes into the period the three of them passed out on their desks. 

The bell for the announcements rang Ryan was the first to wake up so he lightly poked the other while letting out a yawn. 

The others slowly began to wake up as the announcements carried on. The bell went off again and they went their separate ways. 

Ryan went to math and as he put his stuff down into the room he asked his teacher if he could go to the bathroom and quickly splash some water on his face since he had to stay awake for gym. 

She let him go and Ryan and quickly went to the bathroom and threw some water on his face. Since there were no paper towels because they had the air dryers that didn’t really work all too well, he lifted up his shirt and rubbed his face on it. 

He went back to math and splashing water on his face actually worked! Ryan managed to stay awake the entire period. 

When the bell went off, Ryan made his way to the gym locker room and began to get changed. 

After he was changed, he got to the gym and began the workout. Ryan put in effort into gym because he needed to get the credit so he wouldn’t end up taking two gym classes next year. 

Part of the workout was that he had to run laps around the gym so when he finished running his laps he was walking to his spot and he yawned, while Ryan was mid-yawn his teacher came over to him “Tired Haywood?” 

“Just didn’t get that much sleep last night.” Ryan said as he went back to his spot and continued the workout. 

The bell to get changed sounded and Ryan went into the locker room and changed. He got changed before the bell rang so he waited in the hallway and played a game on his phone. 

The bell rang and he went up the stairs and headed to criminal justice. He was the last one out his friends to arrive but he was still on time. It also seems that the others have woken up more since he last saw them third period. 

The class went by relatively quickly and they were surprised when the bell rang. They all walked out together and Griffon and Caiti were patiently waiting for them outside the door. Jeremy and Griffon told a story about how Griffon was going to fight a kid because he almost broke her sculpture. 

They entered the lunchroom and saw Lindsay, Gavin, and Meg sitting at the table talking. 

“No Michael?” Jeremy questioned while he took his usual spot next to Ryan. 

“Went home early, he threw up second period.” Lindsay said. 

Everyone nodded and Ryan sent him a text. 

**To: Michael Jones 12:10 pm**

“Hey Lindsay told us that you threw up this morning, feel better and get some rest.”

Ryan put his phone down and Meg called out his name. 

“Ryan auditions are going to be great! I can’t wait to see everyone again!” She exclaimed. 

“I know! Plus it’ll give me something to do after school again. I’ve kinda just been lounging around.” Ryan smiled at her excitement. 

The rest of them spent their lunch period listening to the girls telling stories about their day because all the boys spent the day along asleep in their classes. 

The bell rang and they all went their separate ways, as Ryan was walking out of the lunchroom he heard someone call his name. When he turned around he saw Jeremy walking behind him. 

“Dude what do you walk so fast?” Jeremy said as he speed-walked to try and catch up with the taller boy. 

“Do I? Guess it's my long legs.” Ryan smirked. 

Jeremy blushed and Ryan laughed. 

“Don't you usually go the other way?” Ryan said and as he realized that sounded kinda mean he started to ramble “Not that I don't enjoy your company it's just that-” 

“Someone texted me that our class was in the upstairs computer lab today, so I turned around.” Jeremy cut Ryan off. “And hey I enjoy your company too.” Jeremy smiled at him and Ryan could feel the heat creeping up on his cheeks. 

“Um that midnight release is tomorrow right?” Ryan said trying to change the subject and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Yeah! I've never been to one of these things before. It sounds like fun, though.” Jeremy said. 

“They are, I went to one for when the Xbox One launched with Meg so she could do an article for it for the paper.” Ryan said. 

Eventually they ended up at the door for Ryan’s English class and they said their goodbyes. Ryan walked in the room and his phone buzzed twice in his pocket. 

**From: Meg Turney 12:54 pm**

“Just a small crush eh.” 

Ryan was confused at first until his phone buzzed in his hand and a picture came up of him and Jeremy with Jeremy's head on Ryan's shoulder and his arm around Ryan. There was also a poorly drawn heart next to them. 

Ryan texted her back. 

**To: Meg Turney 12:56 pm**

“I didn’t know what was happening I fell asleep and where did you even get that?” 

As he waited for Meg’s response he checked his other message. 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 12:54 pm**

“Hey good luck at your audition today (:”

Ryan smiled and texted him back. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 12:57 pm**

“Thanks. I hope I get in. I’m not the best singer.” 

The teacher started the class but Ryan kept his phone close to him on his desk. 

He opened up his book and read along but when his phone buzzed he picked it up and put it onto the page of his book. 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 1:04 pm**

“I'm sure you're great!” 

Ryan smiled and moved his book up to cover his face just in case he was blushing. 

The period was almost over when his phone buzzed again. 

**From: Meg Turney 1:30 pm**

“I have my sources. How else do you think I keep people in the know. (;” 

Ryan internally laughed at the fact that she used her closing line from the paper in her text. 

The bell rang, ending the period and Ryan went to his study hall class. 

Once again waiting for him when he got there were Lindsay and Meg. 

“Hey.” Ryan waved as he walked towards them and taking a seat on top of a desk next to the girls. 

“So we gonna talk about this?” Lindsay said holding up her phone with the picture of him and Jeremy on the screen. 

“Last night the guys and I were playing Xbox really late and so this morning I went to marine eco and Jeremy was passed out on the table so I sat next to him and fell asleep as well.” Ryan confessed to them. 

“This is a pretty cute photo though.” Lindsay commented. 

“Does Jeremy know?” Ryan said softly, not wanting to make things weird between the two of them.

“No he doesn’t but Caiti and Griffon also know but that’s it.” Meg added.

Ryan sighed and they began talking about the auditions when his phone dinged, he must’ve accidently turned the sound on.

“Ooh! Is it from Jeremy?” Meg and Lindsay said in unison when they heard Ryan’s phone go off. 

“No it’s from Michael.” Ryan said as he unlocked his phone. 

**From: Michael Jones 2:15 pm**

“Thanks, man I’m feeling a lot better now, I’m not sure if I’ll be in school tomorrow but definitely be able to hang on Saturday!”

**To: Michael Jones 2:15 pm**

“Just focus on getting better.” 

Ryan put his phone away and jumped into the conversation that Lindsay and Meg were having. 

As they grabbed their bags the bell went off and they began walking to the auditorium. 

When they entered, they found a sheet of paper and put their names and who they were trying out for. They sat on the chairs and looked around to see who was trying out. 

The first familiar face he saw was Miles, he was a sophomore and was in the murder mystery drama along with him and Lindsay last year. They all waved to him and he sat down next to them and began talking to Lindsay and Meg about some anime they were all watching. 

The next person who walked in was someone from the football team but Ryan couldn’t think of his name. He had blond hair, was rather buff, and was wearing a varsity jacket with the name “Gibson.” Embroidered on the front of it.

The boy grabbed the seat next to Miles and joined in on their conversation.

“Blaine I didn’t know that you were doing the musical this year!” Lindsay said as she saw him sit down. 

“Well someone’s gotta stand on stage in nothing but gold underwear.” Blaine said. 

Now that Ryan remembered his name he gave him a small wave and joined in their conversation. 

The door opened once again and a guy and girl walked in. Ryan had never seen any of them before, so they either just moved here or were freshmen. They were both around the same height and the boy had short dark hair and light skin. The girl had long dark hair that was almost black and slightly tanner skin. 

Meg waved the two of them over and introduced them to the group “Guys this is Tyler and Mariel they’re freshmen.” They both said hello and joined the group. 

The last person to arrive was someone Ryan didn’t expect. When Ryan turned around and saw Gavin walking through the doors he was surprised. 

“Ello love.” Gavin said while giving Meg a kiss on the cheek. 

“Gav, since when are you into the musical?” Lindsay asked as she scooted over so he could sit next to Meg. 

“Since Meg asked me to.” Gavin said. 

About 5 minutes later Mr. Heyman walked in and began the auditions. The first name he called was Ryan’s so he walked onto the stage and spoke. 

“Uh I’m Ryan Haywood, auditioning for the part of Brad, and I’m going to be singing Africa by Toto.”

Mr. Heyman nodded and the song started. 

Ryan took a deep breath and sang. 

“I hear the drums echoing tonight. But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation. She's coming in, 12:30 flight. The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation. I stopped an old man along the way. Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies. He turned to me as if to say, "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you"” Hey looked over at his friends saw some smiles and a cheeky thumbs up from Gavin. 

When it came time for the chorus he belted it as best he could “It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you. There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do. I guess it rains down in Africa. Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.”

Ryan finished singing and he walked off the stage and went back to his chair. 

“Rye that was great!” Meg exclaimed. “Also you do it’s I bless the rains down in Africa right? She added. 

“But that doesn’t make any sense.” Ryan said, crossing his arms. 

The rest of auditions lasted another hour or so and when they were over Ryan got out of the chair and stretched out. He grabbed his bag and asked if any of them needed a ride, they all said no so he left and went to go look for his car. 

When he unlocked it he drove into town and grabbed himself a burger from McDonald's and then drove himself home. 

He grabbed his things and then went inside. His mom was on the couch watching some show. “Hey sweetie how were auditions?” 

“Good.” Ryan answered as he joined his mother on the couch while he ate his burger. 

“Oh mom tomorrow there’s a midnight release party for this game, can I go? There’s no school on Friday cause there's gonna be conferences.” Ryan asked his mom because he had forgotten to the past few days. 

“Are you going with anyone?” His mom questioned.

“Yeah, Jack and Jeremy are coming with me.” Ryan answered.

“Jeremy?” She wondered. 

“He just moved here a few days ago he’s pretty cool.” Ryan said with a smile on his face. 

“You can go, just let me know throughout the night what your plan is.” She smiled back at Ryan.

Ryan got up to throw out his trash and he got his phone and texted Jeremy. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 3:56 pm**

“Hey I can go to the release party! I finally asked my mom.” 

Ryan grabbed his stuff and walked upstairs to get started on his homework for the night. 

While he was in the middle of his math worksheet his phone went off. 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 4:13 pm**

“Sweet! How was your audition?” 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 4:14 pm**

“It was good. I messed up some of the words but no big deal it still sounded the same.” 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 4:16 pm**

“Well that’s good. I gotta go head to the store with my mom, Xbox with the guys later?” 

Ryan thought about the request for a minute before texting Jeremy back.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 4:19 pm**

“Maybe, don’t think I can afford to sleep in all my classes again. I’ll let ya know if I get on, though.” 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 4:19 pm**

“Cool cool.”

With that Ryan put his phone down and finished up his math worksheet. When he finished that up he put his phone on the charger and grabbed a book off his nightstand and got through the first couple chapters before eventually falling asleep.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! You made it through another chapter of this fic! Also after writing this chapter, I feel the need to draw that picture of Jeremy and Ryan sleep cuddling. (Is it weird to draw fanart for your own fanfic. Hopefully, it's not)  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day (: ~Kate


	4. From an Awkward Moment to a Happy Pair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this one took longer to come out than the others, mainly because I was trying my best not to fail pre-calc and economics. But I got it done so I hope you enjoy reading it!

Ryan’s alarm went off and he reached his hand out of the warmth of his covers to turn the sound off. “5 more minutes couldn't hurt right?” He thought to himself as he went closed his eyes.

He opened his eyes what he thought was 5 minutes later and when he checked the time it turned out to be almost an hour later. “Shit!” Ryan muttered to himself as he scrambled out of bed to look for something to wear.

Settling on a space themed shirt and some jeans that have a few rips in them he grabbed his bag and ran down the stairs.

He unlocked his car quickly and immediately began driving towards the school. Ryan entered the building and speed walked to his locker and threw all his stuff in. When he closed it Ryan kept speed walking to his first period class.

The bell rang as Ryan sat down in his seat and Michael looked up at him “Cutting it a little close aren't you buddy.”

“Yeah woke up late.” Ryan said with a heavy breath, it was too early to be running around, he wondered how on Earth Jack dealt with gym first period every other morning.

“Was it cause you were dreaming about a certain someone?” Gavin said while he batted his eyelashes and Ryan’s face went bright red.

Michael punched Gavin’s shoulder and gave him a look. Michael went under the table and pulled out a box of kolaches and offered them to Ryan.

“Didn't know if you were gonna show but we still saved you some.” Michael said with a smile on his face. Ryan took two of them and began to eat.

“Where’s Jeremy?” Ryan asked in between bites.

“Chorus lessons.” Gavin said while looking up from his notebook, doing some homework that was due next period.

Ryan nodded and spent the rest of the weekend talking Michael and Gavin about their plans for the weekend. At some point, during the period Ryan got a little bored and decided to fuck with Gavin.

“I’ll give you 5 bucks to take a bite out of Gavin’s math notes.” Ryan whispered to Michael so Gavin wouldn’t hear him. Michael pulls away and looks at Ryan with a devious smirk and quickly grabs the loose sheet of paper and takes a bite out of each of the corners.

“Michael why would you do that? You knob!” Gavin looked at Michael angrily, and Ryan pulled out his wallet and gave Michael a 5 dollar bill. The two of them started laughing.

“Ryan you bastard.” Gavin said quietly. “Are you” Gavin tried to finish his sentence but couldn’t find the words he was looking for.

“Having a laugh?” Ryan said in a bad British accent, finishing Gavin’s sentence for him making Michael laugh even harder than he already was.

Gavin growled and quickly grabbed the note sheet back from them in case there was anymore biting to occur, the bell rang and Ryan and Michael left laughing and eventually he heard Gavin start to laugh, although he wasn't sure if it was because of the notes.

Ryan's s laugh faded as he kept walking alone, even though it's only been a few days since Jeremy came to the school but he really did brighten up his mornings. The walk felt longer than usual and Ryan went through the hallways quicker than he normally would.

Ryan went into his history class, greeted the substitute, and grabbed a review sheet off of the front table. He began to work quietly hoping that it would make the period go faster. Eventually, Ryan finished the sheet and took out his phone and played some game on it.

His phone’s text notification went off by accident and Ryan quickly scrambled to turn it off and then he checked it.

 **From: Jeremy Dooley 8:34 am**  
“Sorry I left you alone on the walk to history ): hope it wasn't too bad. Had chorus lessons.”

Ryan smiled at the message, it was nice that Jeremy cared about something so small as him walking to second period.

 **To: Jeremy Dooley 8:35 am**  
“No problem don't worry about it. Also thanks for reminding me to put my phone on silent. (:”

 **From: Jeremy Dooley 8:36 am**  
“Anytime buddy. (:”

Ryan closed out his messages and checked various other things on his phone while he was waiting for the bell to ring.

When it finally did ring Ryan threw all his books into his bag and went out of the room. Ryan opened the door and saw Jeremy waiting outside for him.

“Hey! Did I miss anything first period?” Jeremy asked with a smile on his face.

“Fucked with Gavin by paying Michael to eat his notes. But other than that nothing much.” Ryan said as they began to walk.

While walking Ryan let his arms just sway and hit Jeremy's hand a few times, every time they hit Ryan would look away and tried his best not to blush while Jeremy looked at him.

“So you excited for the midnight release tonight!” Jeremy exclaimed trying to change the subject seeing Ryan's nerves.

“Yeah totally!” Ryan replied happily. “Is Jack still giving you a ride or do you need one?” He asked the shorter boy.

“I’m still good, it's really nice if you to offer.” Jeremy said as he scooted closer to Ryan to get through the hallways.

“Well, you did invite me.” Ryan said as they got to their 3rd period classroom.

When they took their seats both of them waved hi and Jack looked up from his phone. “Hey Jeremy I know this is super last minute and kinda sucks but it's Caiti’s mom’s birthday is tonight and she invited me to drive up to her grandma's house for today and tomorrow and she reminded me about just now.”

“No problem Jack, don't even worry about it.” Jeremy said sincerely and turned to Ryan “Hey still offering that ride?”

“Hmmm, I might be doing a thing on a farm with some cows.” Ryan laughed and so did everyone else.

Jeremy punched his shoulder “Shut up you weirdo.”

Their laughing subsided when the teacher started talking. “Guys today will be your last day to work on this project. We will start presenting on Monday.” Everyone in the class nodded and some kids worked while others talked.

The four of them spent the entire period talking when all of sudden the topic of love lives came up which made Jack and Geoff give a look to each other and started to ask Jeremy about his love life.

“So Jeremy got anyone special back home in Boston?” Geoff questioned with a smirk.

Ryan was still listening but he was looking down at his notebook and writing some things down.

“There was one but they broke up with me because the only reason they dated me was to bang, and when I told them I wasn't ready, I got dumped and told that they were cheating on me.” Jeremy said quietly and took a deep breath before continuing “His name was Sebastian.” Jeremy looked down at the ground hoping that his new friends would be accepting of his sexuality you never know in the mid and southern states.

No one said anything but Jeremy felt an arm wrap around him, he looked over and saw that it was Ryan's. Jeremy leaned into the touch as best he could while sitting in a desk. “You didn't have to say all that. No one is gonna look at you any differently.” Ryan's voice gentle and comforting.

“We're sorry if that got too personal, we've only just met you.” Geoff said while he and Jack looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

“No it feels good to talk about these things, even though nobody wants to it helps get over them.” Jeremy looked up and gave a small smile.

The bell for announcements rang and Ryan got up to stretch. When he was done stretching, he went over to Jeremy's desk and gave him a hug. He felt Jeremy's arms wrap around him and wanted to stay holding him as long as possible. But he eventually let go, before he did he heard Jeremy whisper “Thank you.” Into his ear.

The bell rang and they began to leave, Ryan left the group to go to his next class and Jack and Geoff were huddled in close to Jeremy talking about something that was probably private.

Ryan went to his math class and scribbled down notes while his mind filled with thoughts of Jeremy. He thought about how Jeremy cared about people’s feelings even down to the smallest detail. Ryan also thought about Jeremy’s laugh and how contagious it was, just hearing put a smile on his face even if he didn’t know what he was laughing about. Then thoughts of Jeremy’s looks came into Ryan’s mind, since it was still pretty warm out Jeremy often came into school wearing t-shirts and tank tops, which showed off his muscles quite well. His face looked good as well, there was stubble lining his chin and his eyes were a mix of brown and blond that complimented his brown hair well.

Ryan’s thoughts came to a halt when the teacher called his name. “Ryan! Can you tell us what the answer to number 8 on the worksheet is?”

The entire class looked at him and his eyes darted to the paper and luckily he’d been taking notes. “Sorry, the answer is 6x-4.”

The teacher looked at her answer key and wrote it on the board. “You got lucky this time, don’t let me catch you daydreaming again.”

“Yes.” Ryan mumbled and tried his best to focus on math. Thankfully the bell rang and Ryan walked out the class and made his way towards his study hall.

When Ryan walked in, he set his stuff down and signed in. Just as Ryan took a seat his phone buzzed in his pocket.

 **From: Jeremy Dooley 10:36 am**  
“Hey this might sound weird but can you do me a favor and send me a photo of yourself. It's for art I need to use a guy to model but everyone in my art class is a girl.”

Ryan answered the text and had never been more thankful for having study hall today.

 **To: Jeremy Dooley 10:37 am**  
“Yeah, I can do that or I can come down there and model for you in person.”

 **From: Jeremy Dooley 10:37 am**  
“That would be awesome!! We're in room 104.”

 **To: Jeremy Dooley 10:38 am**  
“Cool be there in 10.”

Ryan went up to the study hall teacher and asked for a pass to art. When he gave him one he grabbed his stuff and walked down to the art classrooms. Ryan checked his phone just to see what room they were in and walked into room 104.

He gave the art teacher his pass and began to walk over to where Jeremy, Lindsay, and Griffon were sitting. Lindsay immediately engulfed Ryan into a hug and Griffon waved, not wanting to over Ryan's shirt in wood shavings.

“Hey Rye, thanks for coming. You can just take a seat on that stool.” Jeremy said with a smile. “Okay, so can you look to the right just a little bit. Stay!” Jeremy directed him and walked over to him and ruffled his hair a bit. Jeremy backed away from him and quickly took a picture. “For when I need to work on this later.” Jeremy smiled and waved Ryan over to him.

Ryan sat next to Jeremy and Lindsay and watched him work. “Ya know you're quite the model.” Jeremy said as he started sketching.

“Well, this isn't his first time modeling.” Lindsay replied to Jeremy before Ryan could.

“Really?” Jeremy questioned.

“Well I've done some stuff for Jon but that's not really a big deal.” Ryan answered him and gave Lindsay a look.

“Oh come on Rye you're leaving out the best parts.” Lindsay said giggling.

“Alright fine I was a professional male model.” Ryan quietly mumbled.

But he said it loud enough for Jeremy to hear and he started laughing hysterically. “You've gotta be kidding!” Jeremy said in between laughs.

“Nope, it's usually a summer thing. I did get to go to Milan though.” Ryan said nonchalantly.

The warning bell rang and everyone began cleaning up their art supplies and projects. 5 minutes later the actual bell went off and Jeremy, Ryan, and Griffon said goodbye to Lindsay and started walking to criminal justice. When they got to their class Griffon waved to them and kept walking.

They took their usual seats and noticed that Jack wasn't there. They asked Geoff to see if he knew where he was.

“Jack is in the nurse with Caiti, she took quite the beating during dodgeball.” Geoff said calmly.

“I hope she's alright.” Ryan said and Jeremy nodded.

“She'll be fine, it's just a bloody nose. But you know how Jack gets when people are injured.” Geoff added.

They both nodded and they looked up at the teacher who started speaking. “Alright, today we’ll have a pop quiz. When you're done you can do whatever just don't talk until everyone's finished.”

They all nodded and took the quizzes that were handed out to them. About 15 minutes later everyone finished and the three of them talked.

“So we drilled Jeremy about his love life, is there anyone new in your life Ryan?” Geoff said with the same smirk he had on this morning.

“Nah. I haven't dated anyone since Ray moved.” Ryan said looking down at the ground. Ryan felt an arm wrap around him and it was Jeremy returning the gesture from this morning.

The bell rang a few minutes later and they met Griffon outside their class. “Hey I gotta stop by my locker I'll meet you guys there. Jeremy said as he was turning the other way.

“Want me to come with you?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, sure I could use the company.” Jeremy stopped as he waited for Ryan.

They started walking when Ryan asked, “Whatcha need from your locker?”

“Something for lunch.” Jeremy smiled.

When they got to his locker Jeremy twirled in his combination and grabbed a large Tupperware out of the locker.

“Want me to grab that for you?” Ryan asked.

“I got it. Can you just close the locker?” Jeremy responded.

Ryan closed the locker and they began walking.

They got to their table and Jeremy placed the container in the middle and started to talk. “Okay so I know this might seem like a bit much, but before this week started I was dreading coming here but you guys made me feel welcome. So as a token of my thanks here.” Jeremy opened up the Tupperware and inside it were cupcakes. “The frosting matches the flavor of the cupcake so the vanilla ones are vanilla and the chocolate ones are chocolate. There's more enough for everyone so dig in!”

Everyone grabbed one and took a bite and all you could hear was a “mhmm.” From everyone at the table.

“Jeremy these are great! Where did you get these?” Jack asked he took a second one.

“I made em.” Jeremy said taking one.

“God is there anything you can't do?” Gavin said trying to get frosting on Meg’s face.

“Be tall!” Geoff shouted making everyone laugh.

“I make you cupcakes and this is how you treat me.” Jeremy said with a fake hurt.

They spent the rest of the period eating cupcakes and cementing in their plans for the weekend.

The warning bell rang and there were still some cupcakes left so Jeremy decided to give those to Matt and Trevor next period.

The bell rang and Ryan went to English where the period dawned on and as Ryan's eyes were just about to shut, the bell rang.

When he got out his chair he stretched and left the room.

He got to study hall where Lindsay was waiting for him. “So you're going on a date with Jeremy tonight.” Lindsay said with a smirk.

“It's not a date. We're just going to GameStop for a midnight release party.” Ryan said rolling his eyes.

“But you guys are gonna be alone and it's at night.” Lindsay batted her eyelashes at him.

Ryan shrugged his shoulders and they talked until Lindsay had to run to art room because she left something there.

The bell rang and Ryan grabbed what he needed out of his locker before going to his car. The drive home was nothing special but when he got home he decided to take a nap so he’d have the energy for later tonight.

He sat on the couch and threw a blanket over himself while looking for something to watch on Netflix. He found some stupid movie and drifted off into sleep.

His phone rang loudly waking Ryan up in a jolt, he checked his phone to see that Jeremy was calling him.

“Hello?” Ryan said groggily.

“Hey, it’s Jeremy! Did I wake you up? Cause if I did I’m sorry.” Jeremy said quietly once hearing Ryan’s half asleep voice.

“You didn’t. What’s up?” Ryan said trying to sound more awake.

“I was wondering that since the GameStop is in the mall we could get something to eat before we go.”

“Yeah, we can do that. Let's see, it's almost 8 so maybe in about half an hour, we'll head out. Sound good?” Ryan said while getting off the couch.

“Yeah definitely see you in thirty minutes.” Jeremy said and hung up the phone.

Ryan grabbed himself a Diet Coke out of his fridge and got his wallet out of his bag, making sure there was enough money in it for dinner and a game.

Ryan's mom walked in the room and said “Glad you're up sleepyhead. What should we have for dinner?”

“Actually I'm going out soon, to that midnight release thing with Jeremy. We're gonna have dinner first.” Ryan said while putting on his shoes.

“Okay honey, just let me know what's happening. Also here take this.” Ryan’s mom walked over to him and gave him 20 dollars.

“Mom you really don't have to.” Ryan said not taking the money.

“Wouldn't want you to not have enough money and look bad in front of your friend.” His mom said with the money still in her hand.

“Ryan took the money and kissed his mom goodbye as he walked out the door. Once he got into his car he texted Jeremy.

 **To: Jeremy Dooley 8:13 pm**  
“Hey on my way now.”

 **From: Jeremy Dooley 8:13 pm**  
“Cool see you in a bit.”

Ryan started his car and began to drive, he turned on the radio and began to sing along to whatever was playing on the radio.

10 minutes later Ryan pulled in Jeremy's driveway and just as he was going to text him Jeremy walked outside and got into Ryan's car.

Ryan turned down the music a little bit “Seems like you were waiting for me huh?” Ryan said as he started to drive to the mall.

Jeremy let out a small chuckle. “Someone's got an ego now don't they.”

“What! I'm not worth waiting for?” Ryan said pretending to sound hurt.

“So whatcha in the mood for? There are a few fast food places in the mall but right near the mall there's an IHOP, In and Out, Torchy’s, and a few other places.”

“Torchy’s?” Jeremy questioned.

“It's a taco place. From what I know they're only really in Texas and Colorado.” Ryan answered him.

Jeremy thought about it for a minute before speaking “Torchy’s sounds good let's go there.”

Ryan made a noise of agreement and pulled into the parking lot. They got out and Ryan locked the car and the two of them entered the restaurant.

“Table for 2 please.” Ryan politely said to the hostess and she led them to their table. She handed them menus and said, “Your server will be with you guys shortly.” They both said thank you and she walked away.

They started looking through the menus when their server came over to their table and greeted them.

“Hi welcome to Torchy’s! My name is Bridget. Can I start y’all off with any drinks?” She said overly cheery and extremely southern.

“I'll take a Diet Coke please.” Ryan said politely. “A regular Coke for me please.” Jeremy added.

“Alright, I'll get those right out for y'all.” She smiled and walked away.

Jeremy leaned into Ryan and said, “Oh my God can you imagine if Jack sounded that southern?!”

Ryan let out a low chuckle “That would be something else now would it.”

They went back to looking at their menus and Bridget came back with the drinks. “Diet for the gentleman.” She handed Ryan his glass and winked at him. “And a regular for you sir.” She gave Jeremy his drink. “Are y'all ready to order or ya need ‘nother minute?”

“I'm still looking but Ryan if you're ready to go for it.” Jeremy said turning back into his menu.

“I'm gonna need another minute as well.” Ryan said and Bridget left.

“So what do you recommend? I haven't been here before.” Jeremy asked.

“I haven't had them personally but Geoff likes the fish tacos here.” Ryan said closing up his menu.

“Hopefully Geoff has good taste.” Jeremy said and also closed his menu.

They talked a bit more when Bridget came over once again. “Have y'all decided on whatcha havin’?”

“I'll get the fish tacos please.” Jeremy said while handing her his menu.

“I'll take the pork tacos please.” Ryan gave her his menu and she smiled “Good choice! I'll put that right in for you.” Bridget batted his eyelashes at him and walked away.

“Dude she is totally into you!” Jeremy said while punching his arm.

Ryan rubbed his arm pretending like it hurt, “I think you've been spending too much time with Lindsay.” Ryan laughed. “Well unluckily for her she's got too much boob and not enough dick.” Ryan continued.

Jeremy laughed so loud at that other people in the restaurant looked over in his direction judgingly.

Their food arrived shortly and when Bridget handed the plate over to Ryan her hand lingered touching his. Ryan rolled his eyes and thanked her for the food.

They began to eat and any sounds of talking were replaced with moans from how good the food was.

Bridget came over a few time to ask them how their food was or if they needed anything else.

“Geoff does have good taste.” Jeremy said after swallowing his bite. “Rye you gotta try some of this.” Jeremy added sliding his plate over to him.

“Well then you gotta have a bite of this.” Ryan took Jeremy's plate and passed his over to Jeremy.

They both took a few bites of each other's food before giving the plates back. After they both finished their plates, Bridget came over and took them.

“Are y'all stayin’ for dessert?” Bridget asked.

“Just the check should be fine thank you.” Jeremy said and she pulled it out of her skirt and quickly scribbled something down on it before handing it to Ryan.

Ryan's face went red and he pulled out his wallet and put down 2 piles of money on the table: one for the tip and one for his food. “You're not going to believe this but she wrote down her number on the check!” Ryan passed the check to Jeremy so he could see and know how much he had to pay.

“That's crazy! Good for her for putting herself out there, though.” Jeremy also made a pile and added some money to the tip pile that Ryan had made.

“Hey, can you go up front and pay this I'm gonna bring the car around.” Ryan said combining his pile into Jeremy's and digging through his pocket looking for his keys.

“Yeah definitely.” Jeremy said as ripped Bridget's number off the check and handed it to Ryan “Don't forget this.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and grabbed the paper anyway and soon Jeremy stood up and went to the register and paid.

Once everything was paid Jeremy walked outside and saw Ryan’s car right up on the curb.

He got into Ryan's car and they began driving to the mall. Ryan stopped at a gas station and Jeremy went out to get him and Ryan a Red Bull.

When the car was filled up with gas they continued towards the mall. They got there at about 11:00.

They walked into the mall together and Jeremy asked: “So what do you wanna do for an hour?”

“Do you just wanna get in line and wait it out. It doesn't look that long.” Ryan replied.

“Sure sounds good.” Jeremy said and they walked towards the store.

They got in line and Jeremy began talking with some other people in the line. During his conversation with someone, Ryan tapped him on the shoulder and said. “Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom. You good here?”

Ryan saw Jeremy nod and he left to use the bathroom. He didn't think he was gone for that long but when he was walking back to the line he saw Jeremy talking to some girl and acting kinda weird.

He walked back to the line and Jeremy had never looked happier to see him “Ryan! You're back!” He looked over that the girl Jeremy was talking to and she didn't look impressed with his presence.

All of a sudden, Jeremy's hands were on the collar of his shirt and he was being pulled closer to Jeremy who put his lips on Ryan's.

It took Ryan a moment to process what was happening but he closed his eyes and kissed him back. Jeremy's lips were warm and soft on his. Jeremy pulled away and his face was red and Ryan could only imagine that he looked the same.

“Sorry if that was sudden but that girl would not leave alone and I told her I was with you and she didn’t believe me and then I saw you walking over and I don’t know what came over me. But I kinda really like you and if you don’t then that’s cool I just had to get that off my chest.” Jeremy was rambling and Ryan cut him off by kissing him.

When he pulled away he said “I kinda really like you too. Consider this our first date.” Ryan smirked.

“Damn Haywood when did you get so smooth?” Jeremy grabbed Ryan’s hand and absentmindedly played with his fingers.

“I’m usually flubbing every other word I say, I’m surprised I haven’t done it in front of you yet.” Ryan smiled and the line started to move.

“Looks like they’re gonna start selling them soon.” Jeremy said excitedly.

Ryan checked his phone and it was almost midnight and showed it to him.

“Wanna hold off on telling the group about us for a bit?” Jeremy asked.

“I’m okay with whatever makes you comfortable. Just kinda curious why?” Ryan asked.

“It’s just that I’ve only been here for a week and I don’t wanna look like I’m trying to steal you away from them or something. I don’t really know.” Jeremy looked at the ground.

“Everyone totally loves you! Also, I’m pretty sure all the girls have made a group chat trying to get us together and they’ve also told the guys.” Ryan said walking forward.

Jeremy gave a small smile and walked into the store.

They each got a copy of the game and walked out.

“My dad just texted me that my parents are staying the night at some party the neighbors are having. They said I could invite a few people to spend the night. Do you wanna?” Jeremy asked.  
“Yeah, that sounds fun! We just gotta stop by my house so I can grab some stuff.” Ryan said getting out his phone to call his mom and tell her about his plans.

They walked back to the car hand in hand and threw their stuff in the backseat. Ryan started the car and looked over at Jeremy to see that he was falling asleep. He quietly sang along to the radio.

“Rye, you sing nice.” Jeremy’s words were slurred from exhaustion.

“Mmm.” Ryan mumbled while driving.

When they got to Ryan’s house Jeremy was completely knocked out in the passenger seat. Ryan opened the door as quickly and quietly as he can so he wouldn’t wake Jeremy. He entered his house and quickly ran up the stairs to his room and threw the first pajamas he saw into a backpack. Ryan threw some other necessities in and locked the front door behind him.

When he got back into the car Jeremy was still sound asleep. Ryan started the car again and drove to Jeremy’s house. When they got there Ryan woke up Jeremy.

“Hey, we’re at your house.” Ryan quietly said.

“What about your stuff we need to get that.” Jeremy’s voice was groggy and his eyes were half open.

“Already went you were dozing pretty hard buddy.” Ryan smiled and grabbed their stuff from the backseat and Jeremy got out to unlock his front door.

“Sorry it's kinda messy we're still unpacking and all that. But my room is pretty clean. Jeremy said as he grabbed a sleeping bag out of a box and showed Ryan where his room was.

“There's a bathroom across the hall for you to change in.” Jeremy yawned and went through his drawers looking for some pajamas.

Ryan knocked on the door and when he heard Jeremy yawn something that sounded like “Come in.” He walked into the room.

“Hey I don't wanna sound like a buzzkill but would it be alright if I went to bed. You can still play, though.” Jeremy said as he got into bed.

“Don't worry about it. We can play all day tomorrow. Get some rest, it's been a long day for both of us.” Ryan said quietly in case the boy was already asleep.

Ryan laid in the sleeping bag and shut his eyes when he heard a soft voice say “Night Rye.”

“Night Jeremy.” Ryan said as he drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! You made it to the end of this chapter! Jeremy and Ryan are pretty cute. The only reason I made Jeremy be able to bake is because baker Jeremy will always be my favorite Jeremy! Also sorry to anyone named Sebastian.  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day! ~ Kate (:


	5. Hangin' With Lil' J

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title inspired by the video on the Achievement Hunter channel even though there is no duct tape involved. Happy reading!

Ryan woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar room. It took him a moment to remember the events of last night. He sat up and saw Jeremy was still asleep in his bed, he looked so peaceful laying there. Ryan got up as quietly as he could to use the bathroom.

When he returned Jeremy was awake. “Morning Rye. What time is it?” Jeremy asked hazily.

“Morning. It’s almost 8:30.” Ryan said walking over to the sleeping bag to take a seat. But, before Ryan could sit Jeremy scooted over and patted the spot next to him on the bed.

“We could either load up the Xbox and play Ghost Recon, or we could downstairs and we can have breakfast. Your choice.” Jeremy said smiling at him.

“Mhmm, Pancakes sound great!” Ryan said as his eyes began to close while he was still sitting on the bed as Jeremy got up and started to walk towards the door.

“Rye ya gotta get up in order to make the pancakes.” Jeremy said as he turned around to find Ryan with his eyes closed in his bed. Jeremy smiled and got back in the best and threw his covers over the both of them and nudged himself into Ryan’s side.

Ryan opened his eyes and tried to get out of the bed when he felt the weight of something on him. He looked down and saw Jeremy was nuzzled into his side, looking through Twitter on his phone.

“Hey.” Ryan said as he tried to wiggle out of Jeremy's hold. Jeremy blushed and sat up. “How long did I sleep for?” Ryan said rubbing his eyes.

Jeremy looked down at his phone and checked the time. “It's a little past 11. Still up for those pancakes?” Jeremy smiled getting out of the bed again.

Ryan nodded and got up and followed Jeremy into the kitchen. They both started looking for the ingredients and when they put all of them on the counter, Jeremy began mixing them into a bowl.

Ryan wasn't really a huge help in the kitchen, other than getting the ingredients the only other thing Ryan did was throw flour at Jeremy.

“HAP!” The flour hit Jeremy in the face and startled the boy. Ryan laughed at the noise while Jeremy threw flour back at him. Ryan looked at the white spot on his dark shirt and rubbed the flour into the fabric.

Jeremy turned the stove on and grabbed a pan off a rack and let it heat up. The two of them cleaned up and when they were finished, Jeremy went over to the pan and started pouring batter into it.

“Rye can you grab me a paper plate from the box behind you?” Jeremy said while flipping the pancakes. Ryan turned around and put the plate down on the counter next to the stove. Jeremy put the first finished pancakes on the plate and kept making more until there was no more batter left.

Rye decided to make himself a little more useful and started to set the table that they were sitting at. He went back into the box and grabbed two plates and two plastic cups.

He placed them on the table when a sudden shout caught his attention. “Motherfucker!” Jeremy shouted while burning himself on the stove. Ryan rushed to his side and turned the sink on to cold. He turned to spout towards him and Jeremy put his arm under the water, wincing at the sudden change in temperature.

“What happened?” Ryan asked in a soft voice.

“Touched the pan by accident when I was turning off the stove. I'll be fine though, honestly.” Jeremy said while turning off the water and carefully drying his arm.

He smiled and brought the plate of still warm pancakes over to the table and grabbed syrup and butter out of the fridge. Jeremy quickly put the syrup in the microwave and when it warmed up he made a stack and handed the plate to Ryan. “Dooley famous pancakes! Dig in.” Jeremy said excitedly while making a stack for himself.

Ryan let out a small laugh “You’re such a dork.” Jeremy playfully punched his arm “Just eat your pancakes, Haywood.” He jokingly scolded.

Ryan cut himself off a piece and began eating. Ryan accidentally let out a moan from how good the food was and he looked over at Jeremy to see him lightly blushing when he saw him blushing he gave him a small wink which only made the boy blush harder.

The two of them quickly finished all the pancakes, they cleaned up and when they were finished they went back to Jeremy's room and loaded the game.

They picked co-op and started making their characters, they promised each other that they wouldn't look at each other's screens while making their characters, Jeremy went for a man full of American pride. Whereas Ryan made a complete and total monstrosity.

When they were ready for their big reveal Jeremy took one look at Ryan's character and started cracking up “Ryan you fucking freak what even is that?!” Jeremy said in between laughs. “That's how I see myself in the mirror.” Ryan said as seriously as possible.

Jeremy kept laughing “If that's how you see yourself then you've gotta be a psycho.” “Well, you're dating this psycho.” Ryan said giving Jeremy a peck on the cheek. Jeremy smiled and they played the game.

They were doing a mission where they had to save someone from being held, hostage. When Ryan's phone rang, he paused the game and answered the call.

“Hello?” Ryan said casually as he listened to his mother’s voice on the other side of the call his face changed realizing that he was supposed to be home for an important dinner. “I'm sorry I didn't realize what time it was, I'll be home soon.” Ryan said quickly as he packed up his things.

“Somewhere to be?” Jeremy asked helping Ryan get his things together. “Yeah, my mom has these business dinners sometimes and she likes it when I'm there. Usually, she's cool, but these dinners really stress her out. But hey, I'll see you and everyone tomorrow though.” Ryan said smiling.

Hey did one last check to make sure he had everything and as Jeremy walked him to his car, Ryan leaned down and kissed him. The kiss only lasted a few seconds but it felt like forever. When Ryan pulled away he thanked Jeremy for having him over and with one last hug Ryan got into his car and drove away.

Ryan sped home and when he walked in the door he apologized profusely to his mom. “It's alright sweetie, you know how I get with these dinners. How was your sleepover?” She said while cooking. “It was really fun, oh and tomorrow I'm hanging out with the guys, we're gonna see a movie and might spend the night at his place.” Ryan said.

“That's fine, there should be a button down hanging up for you to change into.” She said while adding spices to a pot.

Ryan went upstairs and opened up his closet to find there was a light yellow button down hanging up. He changed and decided to put on a different pair of pants.

Once he was all changed he went into the bathroom to fix up his hair. While doing his hair he took a quick look at his eyes and even though he was dating Jeremy, it was still nice to check.

When he decided that his hair was good, Ryan went downstairs and saw that his mother's business partners were already there.

“Ryan honey take a seat.” His mom said as he walked over to the table. When he sat down some people started asking about him but it was the usual stuff, how are you, how's school, all that jazz.

The dinner was not as bad as it could've been, he's certainly have had worse dinners with his mom’s business partners. When the dinner was finally over he went up to his room and checked his phone.

 **From: Jack Pattillo 6:38 pm**  
“Still down for the movies tomorrow right?”

 **To: Jack Pattillo 7:42 pm**  
“Sorry for not answering earlier, business dinner with my mom. Also totally down for the movies tomorrow.

 **From: Jack Pattillo 7:43 pm**  
“No worries was just double checking, hope it wasn't too bad. Tomorrow's gonna be fun.”

 **To: Jack Pattillo 7:44 pm**  
“Even though there are women in our friend group you're still the mom friend.”

 **From: Jack Pattillo 7:44 pm**  
“Whatever Ryan (:”

Ryan checked his other texts.

 **From: Jeremy Dooley 7:20 pm**  
“Hey, how was the dinner?”

 **To: Jeremy Dooley 7:45 pm**  
“Dinner was fine.”

 **From: Jeremy Dooley 7:45 pm**  
“Well look on the bright side we got movie plans tomorrow (:”

Just as Ryan was going to text him back Jeremy texted him again.

 **From: Jeremy Dooley 7:46 pm**  
“Also Gavin says get on the bloody Xbox, you pleb.”

 **To: Jeremy Dooley 7:46 pm**  
“Alright turning on the Xbox now.”

Ryan set his phone down and put on the console, he plugged in his headset and Gavin invited him to a party.

“Rye!” Gavin exclaimed directly into Ryan's ears causing him to wince.

“Hey! What are we playing?” Ryan said.

“We're playing Minecraft!” Michael said into the mic.

Ryan loaded up the game and waited for his invite. They all walked to Achievement City and Gavin's voice rang through what they were going to do.

Since Geoff wasn't there they decided to spend their time building. Jeremy put a propeller beanie onto Jack’s statue behind his house, Michael killed Gavin a bunch of times, and Ryan expanded Edgar’s bunker.

One by one, they began to sign off of Xbox; Gavin fell asleep and his mom’s soft voice came through the headset “Gav seems to have fallen asleep, he’ll be at the movies tomorrow. Goodnight!” They said goodnight to Gavin's mom and shortly after Michael left when his mother who he lovingly refers to by her first name; Denise came in and yelled at him to get off.

Ryan started to yawn and looked at his phone to see that it was almost 2 am. “I should probably be going to bed, last time we went to the movies Geoff fell asleep and woke up absolutely buried in popcorn. Like I'm pretty sure that Michael and Gavin bought more popcorn to cover him in.” His voice was low and gravely.

Jeremy tried his best to laugh quietly, but he failed and his loud laugh rang through the headset into Ryan's ears. “Well, I should probably let you go to sleep then, Rye bread.” Jeremy's voice was quiet and sweet.

“Thank you. Save me a seat at the movies tomorrow.” Ryan let out a low chuckle.

“Promise. Goodnight Rye.” Jeremy said quietly.

“Night Jer.” Ryan said as he logged off his Xbox and turned out the lights in his room. As soon as he closed his eyes he was fast asleep ready for what awaits him tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this kinda short chapter! It's shorter than usual because I wrote it and got a little carried away and wrote like 3 days. So I'm going to make that extra day chapter 6.  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a good day! (: ~Kate


	6. Sleepovers and Sick Days

The next morning Ryan woke up at around 10:30. He lied in bed for another half an hour before deciding to hop into the shower. He did his usual routine of checking for any small changes in his eyes while the water began to heat up when the color stayed the same he stripped and got into the shower.

When he got out he went back into his room and checked his phone while grabbing a pair of jeans and t-shirt out of his dresser.

Ryan's phone went off as he set the clothes down on the bed.

**From: Jack Pattillo 11:23 am**  
“The movie is at 1:20, was thinking of meeting at 1:00 at the movies so we can get food beforehand.”

**To: Jack Pattillo 11:24 am**  
“Sounds great! Can't wait!”

Ryan got dressed and went down to the kitchen and heated up some leftovers from last night. He sat down and ate when he was done he turned on the TV and some movie that he wasn't really paying attention to.

About halfway through the movie, he decided that he should head out and meet everyone. He told his mom and packed a backpack with some extra clothes, a spare controller, and some other necessities. He made sure that he had everything he needed and went out the door.

The drive into town was quick, when he approached the movie theater he saw Jack, Jeremy, and Geoff outside talking. When he finally found a parking spot, Ryan parked and went over to where the guys were standing.

Ryan stood next to Jeremy and joined in their conversation. Jeremy reached over and tried to hold his hand but he reminded him that the guys didn't know about them so Jeremy pulled his hand away and pretended to scratch his leg.

A little while later Michael, Lindsay, Gavin, and Meg walked up to the theater’s entrance. They said hello to everyone and Michael checked his watch and said: “I don't think there's gonna be enough time for us to eat before the movie.” They all nodded and went to the ticket booth and paid for tickets.

“No Caiti and Griffon?” Lindsay asked. “Caiti is still with her grandmother.” Jack answered. “Griffon is doing an out of state wood carving contest.” Geoff added. Lindsay nodded and they walked to the snack bar.

When everyone bought their snacks they gave their tickets to the guy inside and went inside. In the room, they found their row, since it was one of those theaters where you can reserve a seat. They got in and took their seats; Geoff and Jack sat next to each other. Next to them were Gavin and Meg. Michael and Lindsay took their spot next to them. Lastly, Ryan and Jeremy sat next to them.

The lights dimmed and the trailers started. Most of the theater was silent, except for their group because the first trailer they showed was a horror movie trailer and everyone was looking at Geoff who was cowering in fear.

Eventually, the room went completely black and Jack hit Geoff’s shoulders and he screamed making everyone laugh.

The movie started and they used the dark as a way to hold hands. Ryan smiled at the gesture and watched the movie.

The movie ended and everyone got up to stretch, “Look, guys, we didn't get thrown out this time!” Jack said making everyone laugh. They all walked out of the theater and decided on where to go for lunch.

They eventually all decided to go to a pizza place, since it was closest. When they got there they pushed two of the bigger tables together and sat down. Meg and Lindsay offered to take the group order. When they put what everyone wanted in their phones and got money from everyone, they went to the front and ordered.

The two girls came back and placed a buzzer on the table so they knew when to get their food. They talked about the movie and plans for later that night while they waited.

“Is everyone coming back to my place later?” Jack asked.

“I can't, I've got a family party later tonight.” Meg said. “I should be able to just not to stay the night cause Barb wants to get breakfast. Jack nodded and the conversations were interrupted by the sound of the buzzer.

Michael and Gavin went up to get the food and they came back each with two trays. They put the trays down and started to hand out slices. Someone also ordered mozzarella sticks and garlic knots for everyone so those got placed in the middle.

Their conversations went quiet and were replaced by the sounds of eating and arguing over who wants the extra slice that Gavin thought he wanted but was too full before he had a chance to eat it.

Eventually, they finished eating and wrapped up any extra food so they could eat it later at Jack’s house.

The eight of them walked back to the movie theater parking lot so they could get their cars. Since Geoff, Ryan, and Jack were the only ones who could drive Geoff took Michael and Lindsay while Jack had Meg and Gavin in his car. Even though both cars had room for Jeremy, he went with Ryan stating that he didn't want him to drive alone.

Lindsay and Meg gave each other a knowing look and they all walked to their cars. When Ryan saw Geoff and Jack’s cars begin to drive away Ryan pretended to take a phone call so he could get some distance away from them.

When Ryan figured that they were far enough behind he put his phone down and turned to Jeremy and said: “I’ve been wanting to do this all day.”

Ryan scooted closer to Jeremy and bent down and kissed him. Jeremy's lips were soft against his while the scruff of Jeremy's facial hair felt nice between his. Ryan's hand began to wander into Jeremy's hair, twisting and twirling it between his fingers. Jeremy's hand eventually did the same and the kissed deepened when Ryan felt Jeremy lightly bite one of Ryan's lips. They kept the kiss going while Ryan and Jeremy's hands wandered each other's bodies exploring the unfamiliar territory.

Jeremy pulled away and they looked at each other and they were both bright red with their hair in a mess. Ryan pulled down the above head mirror and started to fix his hair, he looked over at Jeremy who was doing the same.

“To Jack's house.” Ryan said starting the car. “To Jack's house.” Jeremy repeated while grabbing Ryan's free hand.

Ryan drove to Jack's house faster than he normally would, but he didn't want to look like he was taking too long.

The pulled up into Jack's driveway and got out of the car. Ryan rang the doorbell and Geoff opened it, “Look who decided to show up.” He shouted into the living room. “What took you so long, were you too busy making out?” Michael said laughing.

“My mom called and I had to drop something off at my houth.” Ryan said which made everyone laugh. “Ryan, how do you say these big fancy words but then flub on house?” Gavin said.

“Rye you do the play every year and I've never heard you flub during one of our shows.” Meg added.

Ryan just shrugged his shoulders and put his bag down on the floor by other ones.

Jack came out from the kitchen with a bowl of chips “Hey what's up guys welcome to my houth.” Jack said laughing.

“God damn it you heard that too.” Ryan sighed as he grabbed a handful of chips.

“Ryan come over here! We're having a Mario Kart tournament.” Michael said, “And Lindsay lost cause she kept driving herself into a wall.” He added. “Hey!” Lindsay said while punching his arm.

Ryan went over and took a seat next to Meg. Michael handed him a controller and the race started. Ryan spent most of the race cursing motion controls. He ran over an item box and got a blue shell, he threw it and it went after Gavin. “Ahhh! You're having a laugh!” He shouted as the blue shell crushed his character. “Battle shell bitches!” Ryan shouted as he passed Gavin and crossed the finish line. “I lost to Ryan in a bloody Nintendo game!” Gavin said as he handed his controller to Jeremy.

“Nice job beating Gavin.” Jeremy said as he gave Ryan a high five. Jeremy selected picked his racer and they started the race. Unfortunately, Ryan lost the race so he was booted off the console.

Ryan went into the kitchen and grabbed a cup and filled it with water. In the kitchen Geoff was there talking on the phone to someone, his best guess was that it was Griffon. Geoff was in the middle of his conversation when he saw Ryan, so Ryan just waved.

“Ryan the Rye bread, Ryman Haywood!” Geoff said latching onto him. When he got off him, Ryan saw the red color in his face meaning that he was at least a little buzzed. “Ryan say hi to to Griffon!” Geoff said as he handed Ryan the phone.

“Hey, Griffon.” Ryan said as he put the phone to his ear.

“Hey, Ryan. So it seems like Geoff might be little buzzed huh.” She said laughing.

“Definitely.” Ryan said laughing as well.

“Well for once he won't be my problem.” Griffon kept laughing.

“No way I'm dealing with that I'm pushing him onto Jack or Gavin.” Ryan said.

“Good call. Anyways I should be going soon it's almost time for judging. Can you put Geoff back on?” She said.

“Yeah sure and good luck!” Ryan said handing the phone back to Geoff and leaving the kitchen.

When he walked out of the kitchen Meg came and gave him a hug. “I’ve gotta go Rye, see you on Monday though.” Ryan hugged her back and went towards the couches where the rest of the group was.

“Ryan!” Jeremy said scooting over on the floor “When Geoff gets off the phone we're gonna start a movie.” Ryan got on the floor next to Jeremy, and Jeremy took the blanket that was on him and covered Ryan with it.

Geoff came out and pulled over one of the recliners and took a seat. They finally decided on a movie and Ryan leaned over to Jeremy and said: “Try your best not to fall asleep first, you'll wake up with a face full of dicks.” Jeremy nodded and watched the movie.

Ryan grabbed Jeremy's hand under the blanket and started randomly twirling it in between his hand. Jeremy scooted closer to Ryan and laid his head on Ryan's shoulder.

About halfway through the movie, they paused it cause they heard someone snoring. Geoff got up quietly and grabbed a marker. They turned around to see where the source of the snoring was coming from and it was Gavin. One by one they started to write on Gavin's face; Geoff started by writing “British Fuck” on his forehead. Michael went next and wrote “Mingey Prick” on his cheek. Everyone else just drew various dicks. Geoff took a photo of Gavin and sent it to Meg.

They continued the movie and one by one they fell asleep.

The next morning Ryan woke up with Jeremy in his side and Michael's hand practically on his face. He gently moved them out of the way and got up to refill his cup of water.

Ryan heard someone come into the kitchen and saw that it was Gavin and said good morning and started laughing. Gavin sighed and pulled out his phone and opened up the camera. “Awe weak!” He shouted making Ryan laugh harder.

The commotion in the kitchen woke everyone else up. The four of them walked into the kitchen and started laughing too.  
Gavin groaned and went to the sink and tried to scrub the ink off his face.

“That’s permanent dude that's not coming off for a while!” Geoff said laughing even harder than he already was. “I'm gonna shit myself!” He added making everyone including himself laugh even harder.

Jack eventually handed Gavin a pack of makeup wipes that Caiti keeps at his place. “Here these should help.” Jack said while wiping the tears from his eyes.

Finally, Gavin got the marker off his face and the guys went out to breakfast. Geoff took Michael and Gavin while Jack took Jeremy and Ryan in his so that Ryan wouldn't have to use more gas than he would need to.

They arrived at the dinner and sat in a booth in the back. They kept their conversations as quiet as they could since it was early on a Sunday morning and that didn't want to be asked to leave. Once they flipped through their menus a few times they ordered.

Nothing really eventful happened at breakfast, so they left a tip on the table and went back to the cars. They all went back to Jack's house so they could get their things and go home.

Jeremy was the first to go since he lived in the neighborhood. Ryan left after him and got in the car and drove home because he had an English paper to write.

The drive home was remotely quick, when he got home he saw his mom in the kitchen making herself breakfast. “Hey, honey how was the sleepover? Did you eat anything?” She greeted cheerfully. “It was fun! Yeah, I just got back from the dinner.” Ryan said a little less cheery but still happy.

Ryan took his bag upstairs and went to his room to start on his paper. He typed his name and the date when his phone went off.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 11:56 am**  
“This weekend was really fun! Can't wait to see you again (:”

Ryan smiled at the text and wrote him back.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 11:56 am**  
“Totally! Date night sometime this week?”

He kept writing his paper until his phone sounded again.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 12:03 pm**  
“Definitely! Anyways I should probably get back to my math homework.”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 12:04 pm**  
“You should do that. Plus, I gotta write this paper for English.”

Ryan kept typing away when his phone beeped once more.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 12:30 pm**  
“Don't flub it (;”

Ryan rolled his eyes at the message and laughed.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 12:30 pm**  
“I hate you.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 12:32 pm**  
“You love me  <3”

Ryan blushed a little bit at that message.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 12:33 pm**  
“ <3”

A few hours had passed and Ryan was about halfway done writing his paper when his stomach started to hurt. He figured it was just because it's been awhile since he ate anything, so he went downstairs and made some toast.

He got to the kitchen and put some bread into the toaster. When it was finished he put some butter on and took the plate up to his room. He took a break to eat and pulled up some show on his computer. When he finished eating the feeling went away, he went back to working on his paper.

A couple hours passed and he finished his paper but his stomach pains were coming off and on again. He heard a knock on his door and told his mom to come in.

“Hey, sweetie I was thinking of ordering take out what do you want?” She asked.

“I'm not really that hungry.” Ryan said slowly.

“You've gotta eat something it's been hours.” She told him a motherly tone.

Just as Ryan was about to tell his mom about how his stomach was hurting, he jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom and threw up violently. Ryan felt a hand rubbing circles into his back and even he'd stop throwing up he kept his head in the toilet, just in case the feeling came back.

“I'm gonna run to the store and get some ginger ale and crackers. I won't be gone long.” She said quietly. Ryan nodded from inside the toilet bowl as he heard his mother leave.

A few minutes later, Ryan stood up and went towards the sink to brush his teeth. When he saw his reflection in the mirror he saw how pale his face was, he hated looking like this but he watched his face slowly overcome to green tones and went back to the toilet and threw up some more.

He heard the sound of his mom’s car locking and he went to the sink one more time to brush his teeth. Looking back in the mirror he looked even worse than he did. His face was somehow even paler, he had tears streaming down his face, and his eyes had red rings around them.

Ryan changed into some pajamas, he heard his mom knocking so he told her to come in.

When his mother came in she had a trash basket with a brown paper bag stuffed inside it also sounded like there was something else rattling inside it. A bottle of ginger ale and some crackers were tucked under her arm. She set the trash bin along with his bed and put the bowl of crackers on his nightstand. She also took Ryan's cup off the nightstand, washed it out in the bathroom, and filled it with the ginger ale. Lastly, she went back to the trash bin and took something out from inside it, in her hands was a small bowl filled with ice. She put the ice bowl on the nightstand and placed the bottle of ginger ale inside. Ryan's mom put a straw in the cup and handed it to him. After he let out a raspy sounding thank you, she walked out the door and turned off the lights.

Ryan sipped the drink and pulled something on his computer to watch. He only got through twenty minutes of what he was watching before falling asleep.

The next morning his alarm went off and he groaned loudly, he didn't want to get up but he had to. Just as he sat up to turn off the alarm, his mom came in with a thermometer. “Hey, how're you feeling?” Her voice was quiet and gentle.

Just as Ryan was about to answer he grabbed the trash bin from underneath his bed and released whatever was left in his body. He grabbed a tissue from his nightstand and wiped his mouth.

“I'm gonna take that as a not well.” She laughed quietly and Ryan used most of his energy to smile at her. She took his temperature and when the thermometer showed that he had a fever Ryan was told to stay in bed for the day.

She left his room and Ryan grabbed his phone and texted a few people.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:30 am**  
“Hey, not gonna be in school today. Spent most of yesterday and this morning throwing up.”

**To: Meg Turney 6:31 am**  
“Not going to be at school or auditions. I hope it goes smoothly. I'll try and be there tomorrow.”

He set his phone down and decided to go back to sleep.

Ryan woke up a few hours later and checked his phone to see if anyone texted him.

From: Jeremy Dooley 7:17 am  
“Awe I'm sorry you're sick ): I hope you feel better.”

**From: Meg Turney 8:03 am**  
“Awwww Rye I hope you feel better, have some soup buddy. I'll hopefully see you tomorrow.”

He smiled at his friend's concern and took Meg's advice and went downstairs to heat up some soup. Surprisingly, having the soup did make him feel better.

Ryan was just about to pull up a show to watch on his computer when his phone beeped, scaring him.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 12:46 pm**  
“Hope you're feeling better! Also, it's almost lunchtime and I'm kinda bored. :p”

Ryan smiled at the thought that Jeremy thought to text him cause he was bored.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 12:46 pm**  
“Luckily for you, I'm awake. I'm surprised that Jack and Geoff aren't talking shit about me to you.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 12:47 pm**  
“Nah I had chorus lessons, so they probably spent the period talking about us.”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 12:49 pm**  
“True. I wonder if anyone's figured out us yet?”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 12:52 pm**  
“If anyone has figured it out it would have to be Meg or Lindsay. I feel like they're always watching. But I might be a little crazy.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 12:53 pm**  
“Well crazy is a good look on you. (;”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 12:54 pm**  
“ <3”

Ryan got out of bed to grab a book off his bookshelf but as soon as he got out of bed he ran to the bathroom and threw up.

When he was finished he went over to the sink and splashed some water on his face. He grabbed a towel off of the rail behind him. Ryan pulled the towel away from his face and looked in the mirror.

When he saw himself his jaw pretty much hit the floor. The day he had been waiting for has finally come, his eyes have changed. The change was slight but he noticed it, the solid brown that his eyes used to have now been littered with specs of green down the middle. Ryan rubbed his eyes just to make sure that it was actually happening.

Ryan went back into his phone and texted Lindsay. Knowing that she liked to be very involved in other people's relationships. Ryan didn't mind though, he liked having the extra push sometimes.

**To: Lindsay Tuggey 1:12 pm**  
“It finally happened! My eyes changed!

**From: Lindsay Tuggey 1:13 pm**  
“That's great Rye! What's different about them?”

**To: Lindsay Tuggey 1:13 pm**  
“There's green going through the middle of them.”

**From: Lindsay Tuggey 1:20 pm**  
“Ooh! Also, Meg told me you were feeling sick so I hope you feel better.”

Ryan was about to text her when his phone rang.

“Ryan, Ryan I really hope you pick up.” Jeremy said not realizing Ryan had picked up the phone.

“Jeremy I'm here what's up?” Ryan said trying to Jeremy to listen.

“Oh, Ryan thanks for picking up. I'm really nervous and kinda freaking out.” Jeremy's voice was shaking.

“Jeremy, take it easy, deep breaths, and tell me what's freaking you out.” Ryan's put on a soothing tone.

He heard Jeremy take a breath before speaking. “Well I've got gymnastics tryouts after school today and that's how I met Sebastian. But ever since he dumped me I always get a little freaked before tryouts or before a competition.” His voice was still a little shaky but he'd calmed down a lot.

“Well if you'd like I could try to come and watch you?” Ryan's said gently.

“No, I couldn't ask that of you. You're sick Rye. You need your beauty sleep if ya wanna keep me around.” Jeremy's laugh radiated through the phone and Ryan smiled.

“God you're the worst sometimes you know that.” Ryan said dryly.

“Yep.” Jeremy said popping the p. “I should probably go to math class the bell rang like 10 minutes ago.” He continued laughing.

“Jeremy! You can't use me as a way to fail math!” Ryan said overdramatically.

“It'll be fine I'll rub my eyes so they're a little red and tell her that I needed a few minutes.” Jeremy said over confidently.

“You've been hanging around Geoff too much haven't you?” Ryan responded.

“Or that.” Jeremy laughed again. “I should probably go for real now. Bye Ryan!”

“You should. Goodbye Jer.” Ryan ended the call so that he would have to end up going to class.

Ryan spent the rest of the day watching movies. A few hours later he texted Jeremy.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 5:22 pm**  
“How were tryouts?”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 5:23 pm**  
“They were great! I'm on the team!”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 5:23 pm**  
“I'm so proud! I didn't even know our school had a gymnastics team.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 5:25 pm**  
“Yeah, it's kinda weird. It's set up with the school but it's not in the school. There's a bus that takes us to the gym that we go practice in.”

Ryan felt his eyes getting heavy and he had a hard time keeping them open. When he opened up the most recent text from Jeremy and saw that it was more than a single sentence. He lazily read it and sent him back something that looks like someone who's had a few drinks wrote it.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 5:27 pm**  
“Souns gate Jer. I gnna slep.”

Ryan turned off his phone and put it on the charger before completely knocking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What!?! 2 chapters in the same day! I haven't updated since the 24th, so I took a few extra days this week and wrote a whole bunch of this in various study halls.  
> Hope you enjoyed it!   
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Have a great day! (: ~Kate


	7. I'm Gonna Love You, Till the Heavens Stop the Rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! It's been at least 2 weeks since I've uploaded and I've really missed writing this! I got slammed with college visits, an economics project, and it's crunch time for AP photo. But all that stuff is out of the way so hopefully, now I can update more regularly!

Ryan woke up the next morning feeling much better than he did yesterday morning. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom for his usual morning routine and smiled widely when he saw himself in the mirror.

When he finished he went to the phone to see if he had any new messages.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:34 am**  
“Hey babe, feeling any better?”

Ryan smiled at his boyfriend’s concern and wrote him a message back.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:35 am**  
“Yeah, a lot better!”

Just as Ryan was going to phone down he got a text from Meg.

**From: Meg Turney 6:35 am**  
“Gonna make it to play practice today?”

**To: Meg Turney 6:36 am**  
“Yeah! Can’t wait!”

**From: Meg Turney 6:36 am**  
“Oh! And Mr. Heyman told me to tell you to get your copy of the script before the end of the day.”

**To: Meg Turney 6:36 am**  
“Okay, thanks.”

Ryan put his phone down and got dressed as the phone beeped. While he was looking for a shirt he heard the loud roar of thunder and picked out a long sleeve shirt and grabbed a hoodie out of his closet. He also grabbed a dark pair of jeans to wear.

When he was finished getting dressed, he grabbed his phone and read the message that lit up his home screen.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:39 am**  
“That’s good because you still owe me a date this week, Haywood.”

Ryan chuckled at how Jeremy used his last name and wrote him back.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:42 am**  
“I know, I have play practice on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and eventually some weekends. Hopefully, our schedules don’t clash too bad.”

Ryan shoved his phone back into the pocket of his jeans and was about to leave when he thought that he should ask to see if Jeremy wanted anything for breakfast, because that’s what boyfriends do, right?

**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:44 am**   
“Also, I’m about to head out for breakfast do you want anything?”

Jeremy’s reply was instantaneous

**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:44 am**  
“Nah, ate already. But, Jack is stopping at a gas station and I was gonna grab an energy drink, want something?”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:45 am**  
“You know it’s almost 7 in the morning right?”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:45 am**  
“No sleep was working on a paper all of last night. So, is that a no for you wanting something?”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:46 am**  
“Can you get me a Diet Coke please?”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:46 am**  
“You do know it’s almost 7 in the morning right? (;”

Ryan rolled his eyes at the message and got in his car. Ryan drove to a nearby deli and got himself an egg sandwich. When he pulled up to the school he was somehow early enough to get a spot right in front, so he wouldn't have a repeat of last time when he rolled down the hill.

Ryan got out of his car, locked his car, and grabbed his stuff before going inside the building.

Immediately when he walked in, he noticed that the lights in the hallway changed from the familiar warm yellow to an unwelcoming cold blue. Quickly, he opened up his locker and shoved his head inside pretending to be looking for something. “What if I just started screaming right now?” He thought to himself, it was too early to deal with this. He groaned and made his way to his class, knowing it would at least be somewhat dark in there, plus he could eat his sandwich.

When Ryan got to his classroom he expected to be one of the only ones in there but to his surprise, he saw Jeremy sitting at their table with his head down and a hood covering his head. A small smile crept onto his face when he saw the open can of Red Bull next to the unopened bottle of Diet Coke.

He sat down and poked Jeremy on the shoulder, saying “Hey” softly. Jeremy returned the greeting and lifted his head off the table leaving his hood on.

Ryan's smile turned a shocked expression when he saw the nasty looking bruise around Jeremy's eye. “Holy shit Jeremy! What happened to you?!” Ryan exclaimed as he tried to get a better look at the bruise in the low lighting.

“Trust me it looks way worse than it actually is. Yesterday in tryouts we were doing a test routine and a girl next to me accidentally swung her foot into my face. But hey at least these lights only blind one of my eyes now.” Jeremy said with a lighthearted chuckle.

“Yeah what's the deal with these lights? As soon as I saw them I'm pretty sure I hissed.” Ryan said smiling once again.

“They're supposed to be good for the environment or some shit.” Jeremy answered.

“It makes the school look like it's one of those hospitals that kill the patients on purpose.” Ryan said with a smirk.

“Jesus Ryan why are you so creepy sometimes.” Jeremy said scooting closer to Ryan.

“It's just who I am baby.” Ryan said with every ounce of charisma he had in him.

Jeremy laughed at Ryan and kissed him on the lips. They were having a nice moment before the warning bell went off and Ryan pulled away since no one knew about them as a couple and because he didn't want to get Jeremy sick.

Gavin and Michael walked in shortly afterward. Before they got to the table Jeremy scooted his chair a little farther away so it didn't look obvious but still close to Ryan. Jeremy noticed Ryan eyeing up the Diet Coke next to him and Jeremy slid it to him.

“Jeremy, what's with the hood? Don't want the rain to ruin your hair.” Gavin said sarcastically

“Guess I just forgot to take it off.” Jeremy said as he shrugged his shoulders and took off his hood, revealing a black and green beanie.

The class continued on and every once in awhile Ryan would sneak glances at Jeremy's hat. He noticed the little tufts of brown that would stick out of his hat. Ryan also noticed that the bright green was a nice contrast to the darker nature of Jeremy's hair. Another look at the green showed that it was quite similar to the newfound green specs in Ryan's eyes.

The bell rang pulling Ryan out of his thoughts and he stood up and stretched while Gavin practically ran off the room saying something about having a test in his next period class in between high pitched screams. Michael quickly followed him leaving Jeremy and Ryan alone.

Ryan grabbed his bag and slung one of the strapped over his shoulder, grabbed the Diet Coke, and took hold of Jeremy's hand with his free hand.

They walked closely together, not wanting to be one of those couples that take up the entire hallway when they do anything. The only noise between the two were little bits of passing conversations from the people walking past the two of them.

Jeremy let go of Ryan’s hand to throw out his Red Bull into a nearby trash bin. While Jeremy was walking back to Ryan a girl came up to him and handed him another can of Red Bull. The two talked for a minute but Ryan couldn’t tell what either of them saying. They stopped talking and hugged, Jeremy, came back and locked his hand back in Ryan’s.

“What was that all about?” Ryan asked quizzically.

“Oh, that’s Claire! She’s the one who kicked me yesterday. Even though I told her it was no big deal and doesn’t hurt, she still felt bad and got the Red Bull as a means to apologize.” Jeremy said smiling and itched his head through the beanie.

Ryan nodded and they kept walking. Eventually, they both reached their classes, before letting Jeremy go into his class, Ryan leaned down and gave Jeremy a quick kiss on the lips. After pulling away from the two of them both walked into their classes smiling.

In history, there was a substitute so everyone moved their seats around to sit closer to their friends which Ryan didn’t mind even though there was someone in his seat. He saw an open seat by the window and plopped himself down. The sub didn’t assign any work since the plan was so last minute. Ryan just resorted to looking out the window and maybe getting a little nap in.

The rain was coming down even harder than it was this morning, rain wasn’t the most common weather occurrence but when it came it came with a force. Ryan watched the rain fall on the window until he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. He pulled out the phone and read the message

**From: Jeremy Dooley 8:16 am**  
“Rye we have a sub and I’m bored.”

Ryan was just about to message him back when Jeremy sent him another message.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 8:16 am**  
“Also I miss you <3.”

Ryan smiled and felt himself start to blush. He thought of somewhere they could walk to when he came up with an idea and texted Jeremy.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 8:17 am**   
“I have to grab a copy of the script for the play from Mr. Heyman, wanna come? And I missed you too <3.”

Ryan went to the substitute and asked her for a pass to Mr. Heyman’s room. He thanked her for the pass and when he walked outside the class Ryan saw Jeremy patiently waiting for him.

Jeremy walked over to him, grabbed Ryan’s hand, and then laid his head on his arm. They began walking when Jeremy asked him “What even is the musical this year about?”

“Well, I don’t want to give spoilers. It’s about a recently engaged couple Brad and Janet aka me and Meg who because of a rainstorm end up in a mansion filled with some pretty weird people. When they get there they meet the owner of the mansion Dr. Frank N. Furter who is making the perfect man for him. But things get complicated and musical numbers happen.” Ryan spoke softly and Jeremy made a noise of understanding, being happy with just listening to Ryan talk.

They turned a corner and were in the English hallway. Within a few steps they were at Mr. Heyman’s door, Ryan looked in to make sure he wouldn’t be interrupting anything. Seeing that the class was empty Ryan opened the door and walked in.

“Ryan! What can I do for ya!” Mr. Heyman said excited to see him.

“Meg told me that I had to grab my script before practice today. Sorry, I missed the first practice yesterday but I was really sick.” Ryan said as he felt Jeremy let go of his hand take a seat on top of a nearby desk.

“No worries, you know that the first practice is always just scheduling and other stuff like that for the freshman.” Mr. Heyman reassured him as he spun his chair around to find Ryan’s copy of the script.

“Aha! Here it is! Need anything else?” Mr. Heyman said as he handed the script over to Ryan.

“No, I think I’m good I’ll see you at practice later!” Ryan said as he and Jeremy walked out of the room.

They decided to take the long way back seeing that they still had time before the bell would ring. They were almost to their classroom when a loud clap of thunder came out of nowhere and Jeremy jumped and let out a quiet “hap.” Ryan started to laugh quietly and when he quickly realized that Jeremy wasn’t laughing back he looked down at him to see that his face was nuzzled into the sleeve of Ryan’s hoodie.

“Jer, you’re scared of thunder?” Ryan asked quietly. Jeremy didn’t answer him but he felt him nod yes into his arm. Ryan stopped walking and sat down against a then Jeremy followed in his footsteps sitting next to him. Ryan put a protective arm around Jeremy.

“Don’t worry everything is gonna be alright, we’re safe inside.” Ryan quietly assured him while rubbing circles into his back. But, unluckily for them, just as Ryan finished that sentence the power went out startling the already frightened boy. Ryan quickly thought of sweet little things to tell Jeremy to calm him down, but whatever effect this was having on Jeremy was quickly going away and he had to think of something else to say to keep him calm. Until the thunder came back and Jeremy began to shake in fear.

He thought for a minute when a song popped in his head. Ryan began to sing in a soothing voice while continuing to hold Jeremy, Ryan’s hand stroked him to the beat of the song he was singing.  
  
_Now, I'm gonna love you,_  
 _Till the heavens stop the rain._

Ryan could still feel Jeremy shaking but he could feel his breathing start to even out. Ryan continued his song.

_I'm gonna love you,_  
 _Till the stars fall from the sky for you and_ I _._  
 _Come on, come on, come on, come on_  
 _Now touch me, baby._  
 _Can't you see that I am not afraid?_

Ryan was relieved that Jeremy had finally stopped shaking. Ryan continued singing until he finished the song.

_What was that promise that you made?_   
_Why won't you tell me what she said?_   
_What was that promise that you made?_

_I'm gonna love you,_  
 _Till the heavens stop the rain,_  
 _I'm gonna love you,_  
 _Till the stars fall from the sky for you and_ I _._  
 _I'm gonna love you,_  
 _Till the heavens stop the rain._  
 _I'm gonna love you,_  
 _Till the stars fall from the sky for you and_ I _._

Jeremy looked up at Ryan and quietly said “Thanks, Rye.”

“Of course Jeremy. I know I say creepy things but I’m not that much of a monster.” Ryan said chuckling, making Jeremy quietly laugh as well. They both laid together for a while until one of the deans came towards them with a flashlight.

“All the circuits are fried and a telephone pole fell down near the school, so we’re closing school and canceling all after school activities. Buses should be here soon but if you have a car you can leave early.” The dean told them as they got up and went to grab their stuff from their classes.

When they were heading for the main entrance, Jeremy pulled out his phone and quickly texted someone. “That was Jack asking if I needed a ride home but I told him that you’re giving me one.” Ryan nodded and led Jeremy to the direction of his car.

“So wanna go back to my place and have our date night there. My mom isn’t home and we can play video games and I don’t think I ate all the donuts.” Ryan asked Jeremy once they got into the car.

“I’d love to!” Jeremy said resting his head against the window. Ryan nodded and called his mom to tell her what’s going on.

“Alright!” Ryan said as he began driving, putting the radio on a low volume.

They quickly got to Ryan’s house and he tried his best not to get drenched, he ran to unlock the door. When he got it open Jeremy followed him get just as soaked as Ryan.

When both boys were inside Ryan locked the door as Ryan kicked off his shoes and went to go get towels and dry clothes. Ryan came back soon and saw Jeremy looking around his house, not in a creepy way but in more of an endearing way.

“Here. There’s a bathroom if you into the kitchen and then make a left.” Ryan said handing the stack of fresh clothes and a small to Jeremy, who was just about to go change when Ryan spoke again “Just leave your shoes right next to mine. Jeremy followed Ryan’s directions and went into the first-floor bathroom.

Jeremy came out dressed in Ryan’s clothes and found him in the kitchen looking for some sort of snacks for the two of them to share. Ryan turned around and took the wet clothes from Jeremy.

“Hey you can go lounge in my room it’s the first room on the left when you go upstairs. I’m just going to throw these in the dryer and bring up some snacks.” Ryan said as he kissed the top of Jeremy’s head and went into the laundry room.

Jeremy went upstairs and into Ryan’s room. He never really imagined what Ryan’s room would look like but if he did, he’d probably picture something pretty close to the actual thing except for a few minor things. It was a decent sized room, with light blue walls. Jeremy sat on Ryan’s unbelievably soft bed that had a big red plaid comforter on it. Across from his bed was a desk with a monitor with an Xbox next to it. Jeremy got off the bed and noticed a shelf with mostly photos on it; some were of Ryan and their friends, a few of Ryan and his mom, and ones of various drama club performances he’d done throughout the years.

Aside from photos, there was a stuffed cow on the shelf, Jeremy picked him up and thought of one of the first conversations Michael, Gavin, Ryan, and he had in Marine Ecology.

“It's just that you got the two murder classes with Ryan.” Gavin said in between laughs.

“So!” Ryan said defensively.

“When you first moved here everyone thought you lived on a farm and had a weird thing with cows.” Michael chimed in while still laughing and Jeremy began to laugh too.

“His name’s Edgar.” Ryan said startling Jeremy.

“Who?” Jeremy asked with blush forming over his cheeks, embarrassed that Ryan had caught him going through his stuff.

“The cow, his name is Edgar.” Ryan said smiling.

Jeremy nodded and walked over to Ryan and sat down on the bed.

“Wanna play some Xbox?” Ryan asked joining him on the bed.

Jeremy nodded as Ryan got up to grab a second controller and turned on the monitor. They loaded up Move or Die and played a few rounds and ate the donuts that Ryan brought up. After a few rounds, they both began to grow tired due to the weather and the fact that it was a quarter to twelve.

“Wanna throw on a movie?” Ryan asked seeing that Jeremy’s eyes were having trouble staying open.

“Mhhhm hmmm.” Jeremy said as Ryan looked for something in his collection. They settled on a superhero movie and cuddled up even more on the bed and watched the movie. Jeremy fell asleep almost instantly, but Ryan didn’t mind.

About halfway into the movie, Ryan’s mom came home and told him that the school called and they were canceling school tomorrow because they weren’t able to fix the power. She left when she said Jeremy holding Edgar and snuggled up next to Ryan.

Ryan turned his attention to Jeremy who still had that damn beanie on. Even though it was starting to fall off it was still on his head. Ryan really wanted to know why he insisted on wearing it all day.

Ryan decided to take the beanie off since Jeremy’s head must be overheating at this point. When Ryan removed the beanie and saw something that shocked him.

The top of Jeremy’s hair was the same shade of green that appeared in Ryan’s eyes yesterday. 

 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels so nice to be writing this again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!   
> The song that Ryan was singing is "Touch Me" By The Doors.  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day! ~Kate (:


	8. It's Cute How You Think You're Sneaky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know AP week can be really stressful and annoying, but hopefully, this chapter will take some of the edge off.
> 
> Edit: Wow I can't believe I forgot to name this at first. Way to go Kate.

Ryan laid there next to him in shock, he didn’t know what to do. He stared at the vibrant shade of green nuzzled between Jeremy’s brown hair. Ryan quickly scrambled to get the beanie back on Jeremy’s head, there had to be a reason that he was hiding this from him all day. Once, Ryan got the beanie back on he carefully untangled himself from Jeremy’s limbs and called the only person who would know what to do; Lindsay.

Ryan walked into the hallway and dialed Lindsay’s number. It rang 3 times before he heard Lindsay’s voice on the other end.  

“Hey Rye what's going on?” She said cheerily. 

 “I'm having some…” he paused for a minute trying to figure out how to phrase it without letting her know that he's talking about Jeremy “boy troubles.” 

 “Ooh! Hold on Meg’s here and I'm putting you on speaker.” Lindsay said excitedly.

 “Hey, Rye!” Meg said in between a crunching sound. 

“I don't think my boy problems are entertaining enough to need popcorn.” Ryan said dryly. 

“Hey! I was getting snacks before you called!” Meg retorted. 

“So what's the problem?” Lindsay said getting them back on track. 

“Okay so I've been seeing this guy-” Ryan was immediately interrupted by the girls oohing “and I really like him but I just found something out about him, something big.” Ryan took a deep breath and waiting for the girl's response. 

“Well, what did you find out!” Meg exclaimed. 

“Come on spit it out Haywood!” Lindsay said. 

“Alright, alright so Lindsay I know you know this but I'm not sure if Meg does, but yesterday my eyes changed.” Ryan said looking back into the room to see if Jeremy was still asleep. 

His attention was brought back to the phone when he the collective sound of both Meg and Lindsay screaming caused him to pull the phone away from his face. 

“I wanna know what's different about them!” Meg said excitedly. 

Ryan spoke a little bit quieter than normal as if just the mention of it would wake the sleeping boy “So really the only thing that's different is that there's little specs of a really bright green going down the middle.” 

“Well does your new boyfriend know about this?” Lindsay asked mimicking the quieter nature of Ryan's voice. 

Ryan thought for a minute, “I'm not sure because he did have his beanie on all day, but then again it was raining today.” 

He heard the faint sound of the girls whispering but couldn't make out what they were saying over the phone.

“Ryan, can I ask you something about this guy you’re dating?” Lindsay questioned and Ryan grunted to have her continue. “Does this guy’s name rhyme with Leremy Pooley?” Lindsay continued.

In that instant, Ryan could feel the heat coming off his face “Um what are you talking about.” He knew they couldn’t see him but Ryan out of habit was rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

“Come on Haywood we know you two are dating. It’s really cute how you guys think that you’re being sneaky.” Meg said and Ryan could hear the smirk in her voice. 

“We saw you guys holding hands in the theater when we saw the movie last week. Afterward, the two of you came back to Jack’s last so we kinda figured that you guys were sucking face.” Lindsay said with a laugh. “There’s also something we should tell you…” Lindsay continued before pausing for a moment to make sure Ryan was still there “Remember in lunch when Jeremy first moved here and I accidently got bright green paint in his hair?” She finished and Ryan said “Yes” curious to where this story was going.

“Well, I guess the paint stained his hair because there was a tiny cluster of green in one of your eyes.” Lindsay said a little nervous because he didn’t want Ryan to be mad at her. 

“Neither of you told me!” Ryan breathed out he wasn’t mad at them just a little bit annoyed.

“I didn’t even notice it until Lindsay told me, and if only she saw it then no one else.” Meg said calmly. “Then we made a group chat with all the girls about the idea of you guys being a thing.” She continued in a happier tone.

“So did you guys somehow push us together?” Ryan questioned wanting to know how much his friends have intervened in his relationship.

“No!” Meg exclaimed. “We wanted to let this play out naturally.” Lindsay took over. 

“So do any of the guys know? Just wondering.” Ryan said.

“Only Jack knows about the group chat because we kept texting Caiti when they were going up to Caiti’s grandma’s house. Michael hasn’t talked to me about it, but my best guess would be that the guys have their own theories about you guys.” Lindsay said while crunching on some popcorn.

“Gav hasn’t said anything to me either.” Meg added.

“Glad to know that my love life is such a hot commodity.” Ryan joked. “Getting back to the main point, what should I do about you know the whole eye color and possible soulmate thing?” 

“Just wait until it comes up naturally.” Lindsay said reassuringly. 

“Oh and do you  and Jeremy want to go with Lindsay and me to Ruby Tuesdays in about a half an hour.” Meg chirped.

“I’d be down but I have to ask Jeremy when he gets up.” Ryan said sticking his head through his bedroom door to see a sleeping Jeremy. He let out a small chuckle at the girl’s collective oohing. “So, no Michael or Gavin?” Ryan asked realizing they didn’t bring up either of their names.

“Nah, they’re out getting drinks with Geoff so we’re flying solo baby.” Lindsay said happily. 

“Alright, thanks so much for your help and I’ll text one of you if we’re coming to Rubys.” Ryan said hanging up the phone and as he walked back into the room Jeremy was just getting up. 

“Hey, how was your nap?” Ryan said walking over to the bed and kissing Jeremy on the cheek. 

“Your beds comfy Rye bread.” Jeremy said hazily. “Mmhh.” Ryan replied as Jeremy motioned for him to come onto the bed with him. Ryan sat down and Jeremy sat up. Ryan looked into his half opened eyes, even though they were only slightly opened he could still see the familiar sandy blonde shade that matched Ryan’s hair. Looking away from Jeremy’s eyes he looked at the facial hair that accompanied above and below his lips, remembering when they kissed in his car before going to Jack’s house. The memory replayed in his mind, his heart raced, and his mind filled with desire. 

Ryan scooted closer and leaned into Jeremy, a smirk visible on his face and his hands found their way onto Jeremy’s face. Ryan placed his lips onto Jeremy’s, even after just waking up they were smooth and glided smoothly over Ryan’s. For a while, the kiss was tame until Ryan felt Jeremy’s tongue trace over his lips. Jeremy’s tongue stayed in Ryan’s mouth following the lines of his teeth and eventually Ryan’s tongue. 

Jeremy pulled away to breathe. Ryan looked over at him, he was breathing heavily and his face was a bright red color. Ryan can only imagine that he looked similar. They were thinking of going in for round two when his there was a knock on his door. 

“Come in.” Ryan said and the door opened showing his mother’s face. “Hey sweetie who's your friend and is he staying over for dinner?” his mother asked politely. 

“Mom this is Jeremy, my boyfriend.” Ryan introduced him to her and he waved politely. “Oh! Ryan’s told me so much about you!” Ryan’s mom said excitedly. If Ryan’s face wasn’t already red from the makeout session he and Jeremy just had then his face would’ve turned red.

“Oh and Jeremy I was gonna ask you if you wanted to go out to Ruby Tuesdays with Lindsay and Meg in about an hour or so.” 

“Yeah, that sounds like fun!” Jeremy said happily. 

“Well, I’ll leave you to your plans then.” Ryan’s mother said leaving the room. “If you guys are going out, Jeremy I assume the clothes in the dryer are yours.” Jeremy nodded his head and Mrs. Haywood continued “They’re all finished drying.” She walked out the room and Jeremy called out to her “Thank you so much and it was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Haywood.”

“Well aren’t you the sweetest thing. The pleasures all mine.” She said before leaving the room for good.

“She seems like a lovely woman.” Jeremy said confidently.

While Jeremy and his mom were talking Ryan pulled out his phone and sent a quick message.

**To: Lindsay Tuggey 7:26 pm**

“We’re both down for dinner tonight and just don’t make it super obvious that you guys know we’re dating, he didn’t want it to look like he was stealing me away from you guys because he’s new or something.”

**From: Lindsay Tuggey 7:27 pm**

“Cool, I’ll let Meg know. Awwww that’s so cute! He wants the friend group to like him!”   

Ryan put his phone down and looked over at Jeremy “She is and I just texted Lindsay telling her that we’re gonna meet them there. But we do have another hour to ourselves.” Ryan said getting back into the blanket. 

“Yeah.” Jeremy said snuggling into Ryan’s side. “You’re a real good person to snuggle with. Anyone ever tell ya that?” Jeremy asked as Ryan threw his arm around him bringing Jeremy closer. 

“Actually come to think of it I think Gavin got drunk at a party and curled up against me and passed out because he couldn’t find Michael. He just kept calling me Lovely Ryan.” Ryan said as he turned on his monitor and threw on a random episode of It’s Always Sunny. While Ryan and Jeremy swapped stories until they were almost ready to leave for dinner.

“Okay so we should be starting to head out, do you want to grab your clothes from the dryer or just go out wearing those?” Ryan asked looking out the window to see if it was still raining.

“I think I’ll just go out in these.” Jeremy said until he saw the unsure look on Ryan’s face. “Unless you’re not cool with that.” Jeremy said worriedly. 

“No, it’s not that...” Ryan said busting laughing. “It’s just those pants are so big on you they swallow you.” Ryan kept laughing. 

“Well excuse me for dating a giant!” Jeremy said sarcastically while pulling up the pants up halfway up his chest, making Ryan laugh harder than he already was.  

“Here let me look for something that’ll fit you better.” Ryan said while digging through the dresser next to Jeremy. Ryan found a pair of sweatpants with a red flannel pattern similar to the covers on his bed and threw them at Jeremy “Try these.” 

Jeremy quickly put the pair of pants on and they were still a little long but he knew that this was the best he was going to get. “They’re great.” Jeremy smiled.

“Keep em, they’ll never fit me again. Plus they look good on you.” Ryan said grabbing his hoodie off the floor and putting it on.

The two boys went down the stairs and Ryan’s mom was on the couch reading a book. “Mom we’re heading to Rubys to meet Meg and Lindsay for dinner. Want me to bring you back anything?” Ryan asked as he put on his shoes. 

“No thank you. Jeremy if I don’t see you have a goodnight. Also, one night you’ll have to stay for dinner.” She said sweetly.

“Of course, goodnight to you too, and it was a pleasure to meet you.” Jeremy said quickly putting on his shoes. 

They got into Ryan’s car and Jeremy looked out the window, the majority of the storm has died down and has now been reduced to a light drizzle. 

Jeremy broke the silence by asking Ryan “So do Lindsay and Meg know were a thing or not.” 

Ryan kept his eyes on the road and tried to think of an answer, he didn’t want to lie to Jeremy but he also knows that he doesn’t want them to know right away. 

“I’m sure they have their suspicions. Lindsay has always been into other people’s relationships, specifically mine.” 

Jeremy let out a noise of understanding and Ryan continued “It, might seem like much to other people but, I know she just wants everyone to be happy. Plus, she’s got good relationship advice.” Ryan smiled. 

Out of the corner of Ryan’s eye, he saw Jeremy staring out the window and laughing to himself. When Ryan stopped at the next light, he looked over at the window and saw that Jeremy drew a big dick on the window. Ryan joined in, laughing also and pulled into the parking lot of Ruby Tuesdays.

Ryan put his hood on before getting out of the car and opening the other side for Jeremy. “What a gentleman.” Jeremy said as he fanned himself with his hand. 

They both walked inside and saw Meg and Lindsay sitting next to each other in a booth. Ryan and Jeremy walked over to them and Meg stood up and hugged them. “Guys!” She exclaimed as Lindsay joined the hug. 

“I’m glad we managed to get you in your best outfits.” Lindsay said sarcastically gesturing to their outfits. 

“Better than us showing up drenched now would it.” Jeremy copied her sarcastic nature and everyone laughed. 

They sat down and the waitress came over, put four water glasses on the table, and handed Ryan and Jeremy two more menus. They had some small talk going while looking through their menus and Jeremy asked: “I’ve never been here before, what’s good here?” 

Meg, Ryan, and Lindsay thought for a moment and Ryan broke the silence “I’m probably going to get the barbecue brisket. It’s usually what all the guys get.” Jeremy looked for it on the menu and read the description of it. “Sounds good I’m gonna get that.” Jeremy said while closing up his menu. 

“That’s crazy about what happened at school today. The power going out and everything.” Meg said putting her menu down. 

“Yeah! Kinda nice that we don’t have school tomorrow.” Lindsay added taking a sip of her water. 

“Wait we don’t have school tomorrow.” Jeremy said confused.

“Oh yeah I forgot to tell you but my mom came in while you were asleep during the movie.” Ryan said as the waitress came over, Jeremy was blushing. 

The waitress came over and took down everyone’s order, leaving shortly after.

Under the table, Ryan held Jeremy’s hand and they both smiled. 

“So any plans for tomorrow?” Meg asked while twirling the wrapper of her straw. 

Before either of them could answer both their phones on the table started to vibrate. 

Jeremy held some restraint but Ryan let his curiosity get the best of him and picked it up. 

**New Group Chat: Jeremy Dooley, Gavin Free, Michael Jones, Jack Pattillo & Geoff Ramsey 8:33 pm **

**From: Geoff Ramsey 8:33 pm**

“Guys day tomorrow?” 

Ryan was about to put the phone down when it buzzed again. 

**Geoff Ramsey changed the name of the group chat to “Dickheads” 8:33 pm**

Ryan chuckled to himself and put the phone down and joined back in on the conversation. 

“Well, Geoff just made a group chat for all the guys and asked if we were all down to hang tomorrow.” Ryan said. 

“Sounds like a plan!” Jeremy responded. 

The waitress came back and gave them their food. Jeremy was the first to take a bite of the brisket in front of him. “I can see why all of you get this when you come here. It's so good!” 

Any conversation was put to a stop as they ate. 

Within the next 10 minutes, all of them were finished. The waitress came to grab their plates and asked if they wanted dessert, after a moment of thought they decided against dessert and paid the check and left. 

They gave hugs goodbye and Ryan and Jeremy went to Ryan's car. By this time the rain had completely stopped, and it was almost 9:00. 

“That was fun.” Jeremy said quietly, grabbing Ryan's hand and massaging it in his. 

“It was. So are you going to hang with everyone tomorrow?” Ryan matched his quiet voice. 

“I'll have to see where we’re going, but probably.” Jeremy said as they were pulling up closer to his house. 

“Well this is your stop, I’ll maybe see you tomorrow.” Ryan said giving Jeremy a quick peck on the lips before he got out of the car. 

The rest of Ryan’s drive home was mostly silent except for the quiet songs that were playing on the radio. 

When he got home he noticed that his mom must’ve gone to bed, so he was extra quiet when making his way up to his room. Since he was already in pajamas he just hopped into bed. 

He opened up his phone and checked to see that he had a bunch of messages from the group chat that Geoff made. 

**[Dickheads] From: Jack Pattillo 8:34 pm**

“I’m in what would be doing?”

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 8:35 pm**

“My parents aren’t home so we could hang at my place, have some bevs.” 

**[Dickheads] From: Gavin Free 8:36 pm**

“BEVS AT GEOFF’S! Count me and Micoo in!” 

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 8:36 pm**

“I know idiot! You guys are in my house!”

**[Dickheads] From: Gavin Free 8:36 pm**

“Well not everyone knows that!”

**[Dickheads] From: Ryan Haywood 9:15 pm**

“Sorry for not answering was at dinner. But I’ll come to watch you guys be drunken assholes.”

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 9:15 pm**

“Not sure if I can but what time would we going to Geoff’s?”

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 9:16 pm**

“Does 2:00 sound good?”

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 9:16 pm**

“I’ll ask my mom and let ya guys know tomorrow.”

**[Dickheads] From: Ryan Haywood 9:18 pm**

“Alright sounds like a plan.”

**[Dickheads] From: Jack Pattillo 9:23 pm**

“Sounds good! See y’all tomorrow!”

As he read that last message from Jack he plugged in his phone and closed his eyes thinking about what tomorrow would bring. Sure he’d seen what happens when everyone gets drunk; Michael gets louder and angrier than usual, mainly at Gavin but it’s all in good fun, Gavin becomes really touchy feely, Geoff turns into a tired drunk but he also gets giggly, and Jack also gets giggly. But, Ryan didn’t know how Jeremy gets when he’s drunk or if he drank.

Anyways, he reassured himself that tomorrow everything would be fine. One thing was for sure, he was going to be giving a lot of people rides home tomorrow night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyy look who made it to the end of the chapter!  
> Also one of the reasons I wrote this chapter so quickly is that it was like 1 am and I wanted to write a makeout scene because I'm absolute trash (:  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a good day! (: ~Kate


	9. Bevs With Geoff!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would ya look at that, Kate knows how to finish and upload a chapter before 1 in the morning.

Ryan woke up the next morning later than he normally would anytime he has a day off. He opened his eyes slowly letting his eyes adjust to the light that filled his room. The phone on his nightstand was making a horribly loud noise, and went to shut it off he realized that it was almost one thirty and he had to be a Geoff’s in about half an hour to watch his friends get their drink on.

Ryan basically jumped out of bed to take the quickest shower ever and got dressed. When he was done he checked his phone to see that he had a bunch of messages and a few missed calls from his friends.

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 8:58 am**  
“I asked my mom and she said I could go! Jack, do you mind giving me a ride?”

**[Dickheads] From: Jack Pattillo 9:06 am**  
“No problem! See ya at 2!”

**[Dickheads] From Geoff Ramsey 10:21 am**  
“Yo, my parents are leaving earlier than I thought wanna come over at 1:30?”

**[Dickheads] From: Jack Pattillo 10:23 am**  
“Sounds good! Need us to bring anything?”

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 10:26 am**  
“Extra booze is always nice and if there’s anything else you would want. Ryan you might want to bring some extra Diet Cokes.”

**[Dickheads] From: Gavin Free 10:30 am**  
“Sounds top! See you then!”

**[Dickheads] From: Michael Jones 10:35 am**  
“I’ll fill the baby with some Riot Punch. This is gonna be fun!”

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 12:16 pm**  
“Anyone heard from Ryan? He usually gets up at a decent time and at least checks his texts.”

[ **Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 12:17 pm**  
“Haven’t heard anything, want me to give him a call?”

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 12:17 pm**  
“Yes.”

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 12:20 pm**  
“No answer.”

**[Dickheads] From: Gavin Free 12:20 pm**  
“I texted Turney to see if there was some sort of drama club thing this morning and she said there wasn’t.”

**[Dickheads] From: Michael Jones 12:29 pm**  
“Well, he’s gotta wake up at some point. The worst that’ll happen is he shows up late.”

**[Dickheads] From: Gavin Free 12:32 pm**  
“I’m gonna call him a few times, maybe it’ll wake him up.”

After reading the strand of messages Ryan checked the time and it was almost 2 o’clock. He ran down the stairs and shouted “Mom going to Geoff’s. I’ll be responsible. Love you.” to his mother as he grabbed his keys and bolted to the nearest 7-11 to get some extra Diet Cokes.

When he pulled into Geoff’s driveway it was about 2:15 and Ryan grabbed the drinks and bolted out of his car and knocked on the front door.

“Well look who decided to show up.” Geoff said moving out of the way so Ryan could come inside.  
“Sorry I overslept.” Ryan said while going into the kitchen and setting the drinks down on the counter next to all the booze.

“Hey, guys Sleeping Beauty showed up!” Michael said as he walked out from the bathroom.

Ryan felt arms wrap around him, he looked down and saw Jeremy who was still in the same beanie as yesterday. He let go and picked up his glass of beer and took a drink.

When Ryan was greeted by everyone, Geoff turned on the TV and they played some of the Jackbox Party Pack since the answers could only get worse as they got drunker.

They were playing Quiplash and all laughing because of how similar the answers were. “We hang out too much!” Gavin said sarcastically. “Who else is gonna you British piece of shit!” Michael said to Gavin.

They’ve only had a few glasses of Riot Punch but that shit was strong. As Ryan went to get him and Geoff another can of Diet Coke Jeremy went and followed him “No drinks for you Rye?” Jeremy asked. “Nah, not really my thing.” Ryan answered casually.

When they came back out, Geoff had switched on a movie, and from the looks of the starting logos, it wasn’t going to be a good one.

“Alright here are the rules; drink for nudity, fourth wall breaks, and if there is a swastika.” Geoff said hitting play.

Ryan didn’t know what movie Geoff picked, but it was terrible. Everyone was wasted. Ryan had to order a pizza about halfway through the movie because honestly, he was surprised that they were all still somehow speaking English; well it was a stretch for Michael but he was still able to tell what he was saying so that’s a win.  
The movie ended and everyone cheered. There was knock at the door and Ryan got up to answer it knowing it was the pizza guy.

When Ryan opened the door he saw a familiar face, it was Trevor. Jeremy also saw him at the door and went over to say hi. “Trevor!” Jeremy clung onto Ryan for stability.

“Hey, Ryan and Jeremy! The pizzas are gonna be 25 bucks.” Ryan nodded and handed the money and tip. “Thanks, so I’ll see you tomorrow?” Trevor said as he pocketed the money.

“Well you’ll definitely see me tomorrow, but I’m not too sure about these guys though.” Ryan said laughing and waved Trevor off as he went to put the pizzas somewhere.

When he turned back into the living room he saw everyone sitting in a circle so he decided to put the boxes in the middle.

Ryan grabbed a spot with Jeremy on his right and Geoff was to the left of him. “So what’s with the circle?” Ryan asked taking a bite out his slice.

“It’s a feelings circle, Ryan!” Gavin said while trying to wrap himself around Michael who kept shoving him off.

“No, it’s not, we’re gonna play never have I ever and it’s best to sit in a circle.” Geoff said. “So here’s a quick refresher, everyone puts up 5 fingers. The someone says never have I ever and everyone who's done it puts down a finger and takes a drink. Last one with fingers up wins.” Geoff explained.

  
“Wait before we start I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Ryan said getting up. Making his way towards the bathroom, he could hear Geoff groan but he knew it was just Geoff being Geoff.

Ryan came back and took a seat and the game started.  
  
Geoff started “Never have I ever dyed my hair.” He smiled and watched as Jeremy was the only one who put a finger down and drank. “Wow way to go after the new guy.” Jeremy said as Geoff laughed.

Ryan looked over at Jeremy and just now noticed that his either he had taken off his hat or someone else did. Ryan tried to do best not to stare but it was the first time that he had ever seen the colored hair in person. The green was so bright against the neutral brown of the rest of his hair. It looked good on him.

Ryan was up next and he had to think of something “Hmm never have I ever gotten a tattoo.” Ryan looked as Geoff, Michael, and Jeremy all picked up their glasses and drank.

“Jeremy you have a tattoo?!” Gavin asked excitedly while trying to look for it on him. “Yeah, I got it done a few weekends ago.” Jeremy said as he pushed the grabby brit’s hands away. “I’ve been wearing sweaters and long sleeves to keep it covered, but it’s for my grandfather.” Jeremy rolled up his sleeve to show the tattoo on his shoulder. Ryan looked at his face saw that he was blushing but he didn’t know if that it was from the attention or the number of drinks he’s had.

Jeremy rolled his sleeve back down and did his turn with a big smile on his face “Never have I ever dated a woman.” Ryan and Jeremy both laughed as they watched everyone take a drink.

The game carried on for a while until the only two people left were Gavin and Jack. Even though Geoff, Michael, Jeremy and Ryan were out they still kept drinking for ones that they have done. Eventually, the game ended when Jack won by saying “Never have I ever been to England.” Which was a cheap move but everyone wanted the game to be over so it was all in good fun.

Everyone but Jeremy piled onto the couches surrounding the TV so Geoff could put on another movie.

Jeremy came back into the room and spoke to Ryan “Hey can I talk to you alone for a bit.” Ryan nodded, untangled himself from Gavin and stood up. While they were walking out together they heard Geoff and Michael shouting about how they were gonna make out.

When they were sure that they were alone, Jeremy kept almost saying something but not getting the words out. So Ryan felt the need to ease up the tension. “So are we going to make out?” he said with a smirk on his face.

Jeremy playfully smacked him on the arm and started to speak “Ryan I’m trying to be serious and you’re not helping.” Ryan nodded and Jeremy took a deep breath before continuing “Okay so I know I’m kinda drunk but I know that sober me is too much of a pussy to say this so I’m just gonna spit it out but, I think we’re soulmates.”

Ryan stood there speechless, he knew that Jeremy’s green hair matched the specs in his eyes but how could Jeremy be sure about having Ryan’s hair color match his eyes.” Ryan felt the heat creeping up onto his face and instinctively starting rubbing the back of his neck.

Ryan was taken out of his thoughts when he heard Jeremy’s panicked rambling in his voice. “Shit, I shouldn’t have said anything. Now everything is all awkward and you probably hate me. Why the fuck would I ever want to do this drunk, I’m such a fucking idiot. What hell even is Riot Punch anyways and why does it not taste like there’s any alcohol? in it. I should probably just go-” Ryan interrupted Jeremy’s rambling with a kiss on the lips.

“Jeremy, you’re rambling. First, I’m glad that you said something because my eyes have been different for about 3 days now and I’ve been too nervous to say anything. Next, I don’t hate you and you’re not a fucking idiot. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s Sunny D and Vodka. Lastly, don’t you dare leave.” Ryan said calmly hugging him until he felt his breathing become more steady. “How bout we go back inside and see what kind of awful movie Geoff has picked out.” Jeremy nodded and the two walked back into Geoff’s living room hand in hand.

When they came back Geoff had already started the movie but they didn’t mind. The four others on the couch did notice the fact that Ryan and Jeremy were holding hands and started to berate them on what happened when they were alone.

“So are you two a thing now? Because there’s been some speculation going around between the girls.” Jack questioned as Geoff paused the movie, being clearly more interested in his friends love lives than whatever b-rated movie he picked.

Jeremy and Ryan blushed and looked at each other. Ryan saw that Jeremy had a slight smirk on his face. “Does this answer your question?” Jeremy said as he leaned into Ryan and kissed him on the lips not caring that a good chunk of their friend group was watching.

They both pulled away as Geoff jokingly said: “Oh my god, get a room you two.” Just as Geoff was going to resume the movie his phone rang. “Okay sounds great see you in a half an hour. Love you!” Geoff hung up the phone and addressed the group “Okay so my parents are going to be home in thirty minutes so would you all kindly get the fuck out of my house.”

Gavin and Michael stayed to help clean up since they live within walking distance from Geoff’s house while Jeremy, Jack, and Ryan all went to Ryan’s car and began the drive home.

The drive to Jack and Jeremy’s house wasn’t too bad. Both of them were mostly just silent because they were tired and probably mentally preparing for their hangover tomorrow.

Ryan eventually got Jeremy and Jack out of his car and started to head home. While he was driving he heard his phone beep, but he would check it later.

After about another 10 minutes of driving, Ryan pulled into his driveway and was ready to collapse. He unlocked the door and made a beeline straight to his room and fell down onto his bed. Ryan kicked off his jeans and read the message.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 8:11 pm**  
“Feels good to finally tell people. Thanks for the ride home.”

Ryan quickly answered, feeling his eyes getting heavier and heavier by the minute.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 8:25 pm**  
“I know it feels great! See you tomorrow.”

Ryan plugged his phone in and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter down! Give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it!  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a great day! (: ~Kate


	10. Wanna Do Something Rebellious?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might wanna call a dentist after you read this because it's just tooth rotting fluff.

When Ryan woke up the next morning he really wasn’t in the mood to do anything so he quickly took a shower and grabbed a light colored sweater from the floor and put that and some black jeans on.

Ryan went downstairs into the kitchen and popped a bagel in the toaster and waited for it to toast. While he was waiting he put on his shoes and got ready to leave. The toaster dinged and Ryan quickly spread some cream cheese on the bagel and closed it, he put it on a paper towel and headed for his car. Just before he got in his car his phone buzzed.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:47 am**  
“Holy shit Rye I’m so hungover and I’ve got gymnastics practice after school, which I have to go to cause our first meet is on Friday. Kill me.”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:47 am**   
“You’ll be fine. I’ve got the cure for hangovers. Just stay in Marine Eco until I get to school, the door is always open and the lights are usually off.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:47 am**  
“Well hurry up, Jack isn’t coming so I’m on the bus and there are these kids who are MAKING SO MUCH FUCKING NOISE BEFORE 7 AM! I might have to murder them.”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:48 am**  
“Don’t waste the energy, I’ll them and do it later (;”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:48 am**  
“God, you’re creepy.”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:48 am**  
“<3”

Ryan got in his car and made a quick stop at the drive through of McDonald's, where he ordered the biggest and greasiest burger on the menu along with some fries. He also got a Diet Coke for himself and a regular one for Jeremy. After a strange look from the drive-through worker, he continued the drive to school.

The drive was peaceful until some asshole behind him decided to bump into the back of his car because he was texting and didn’t hit the brakes fast enough. Since Ryan really didn’t want to bother with it and no real damage was done he just took a deep breath and kept driving.

Ryan finally got to school, parked his car, and grabbed his things. When he got to his locker, put the fast food in and, he unwrapped his bagel. Ryan checked his phone to see if he needed to be in class yet and luckily he didn’t.

As he closed his locker, Ryan saw Meg and Lindsay walking towards him. “Ryan! What happened yesterday, you’re one of the only guys here!” Lindsay questioned.

“Michael made Riot Punch and then we played Never Have I Ever.” Ryan said while eating his breakfast. They continued to walk while Ryan went more in depth of the events of the night before. During their conversation, the warning bell rang and the three of them went their separate ways and Ryan went back to his locker to get Jeremy’s food and he went to the Marine Eco-classroom.

When he walked into the class, he saw that the lights were off but he could still see Jeremy’s hair through the darkness. Ryan walked over to their usual table, put the drinks down and, tapped him on the shoulder. Jeremy lifted his head up slowly and looked at Ryan. “Why did you let me do this Ryan!?” Jeremy said over dramatically with a small smile on his face.

“Shut up.” He said jokingly “I’ve got a present for you.” Ryan reached into his bag and gave him the bag of McDonald’s. Jeremy opened the bag curiously and took out the burger and fries. “How is this going to help me?” Jeremy said opening up the burger wrapper.

“The burger soaks up the alcohol and you’ll need to get some sugar back into your system.” Ryan said while taking one of Jeremy’s fries. “What about the fries then?” Jeremy questioned in between taking bites of the burger. “Well, who gets a burger without ordering fries to go with it?” Ryan had a smile on his face for that last part. “You’re such a dork. Does this really work though?” Jeremy said while drinking the soda.

“Definitely! Geoff got wasted the night before a huge math test, and I gave this to him the next day.” Ryan paused for a moment “He failed that test.” Ryan noticed the change in Jeremy’s face and spoke again “But he felt great while he did it!” “You’re really something else Haywood!” Jeremy laughed.

Jeremy eventually finished the burger and slid the fires in the middle of them so Ryan would have to stop reaching for them. “You know you could’ve got yourself some fries.” Jeremy smirked. “Well, I didn’t know that I wanted fries until I saw you eating them.” They both laughed and kept talking.

“What time is your gymnastics meet on Friday? I wanna come.” Ryan asked. “It’s at 3:30 but you don’t have to come.” Jeremy said while blushing from embarrassment. “But I want to come. I wanna see you be all flexible and shit.” Ryan said with a sincere smile on his face. “Thanks, Rye.” Jeremy said as the bell rang.

He threw out his food and then they walked to history together hand in hand. They kept the conversation light and when Jeremy reached his classroom they said their goodbyes and went into their classrooms.

Ryan’s history teacher decided to be a total dick and drop a surprise essay on the entire class. Ryan fished a pen out of his bag and grabbed the essay packet from the kid in front of him. Ryan flipped through the front and read the prompt. “Using the documents write about how industrialization in America affected other countries.” Ryan internally groaned and started to go through the documents and underline important information. Eventually, Ryan started his essay but the bell rang about halfway through him writing it. “Alright, we will be working on this tomorrow so just put your packets on the front table and make sure that your name is on it!” Ryan put the packet on the pile and walked out the class where Jeremy was waiting for him.

While the two walked to Forensics Ryan told Jeremy about the struggle of having a surprise essay dropped on him. They both walked into Forensics and saw that there was a substitute. “Hey, I gotta blow off some steam. Wanna do something rebellious?” Ryan asked with a smirk on his face. “Yeah sure.” Jeremy said as he followed Ryan over to the substitute.

“Excuse me, can we have a pass to go talk to a teacher?” Ryan asked putting on some Georgian charm. “Yes, what are your names and who’s the teacher?” The substitute said. “Ryan Haywood and Jeremy Dooley we’re going to see Mr. Heyman.” The sub scribbled all the names on the pass and signed it, she handed it to Ryan who said “Thank you” as they walked out.

“So what are we doing?” Jeremy questioned as he followed Ryan to a door that would take them outside. “Something I’ve always wanted to try.” Ryan had the same smirk on his face from earlier and led Jeremy towards the soccer field. They walked on the field until they got to the bleachers, “Under here!” Ryan said as he set his backpack on the ground. Jeremy followed and asked again “So what are we doing?” Instead of answering Ryan walked closer to Jeremy, closing the space between them.

Ryan leaned down and placed his mouth on Jeremy’s lips. He felt Jeremy tense up and took a quick breath for a second before calming back down and exhaling to return the gesture. Ryan could taste the fast food from this morning on his breath, which might gross some people out but to Ryan, it was the best thing he’d tasted all day. Ryan felt Jeremy stumble back due to his smaller stature so Ryan eased up and let Jeremy have control. He felt Jeremy’s lips press harder against his and even felt Jeremy’s teeth scrape against his lips which Ryan found pretty hot. Ryan’s heart was beating faster and faster, and he honestly thought it was going to burst out of his chest from how fast it was going. He pulled away to catch a breath and Jeremy did the same. Ryan looked over and saw how close the football field was to them and tried his best to remember if there was a gym class going on this period.

Giving up on his thoughts he looked at Jeremy and went back for round two picking up where they had left off. Jeremy’s hands started tangled up in his hair and slowly moved their way down Ryan’s body, following the curves and contours of his back until they made their way to his ass where they gave it a gentle squeeze.

Before anything else could happen they heard someone shout at them “Hey! What do you think you're doing?!” They broke apart and saw his gym teacher walking towards them. “Oh shit.” Ryan mumbled while trying to steady his breath. “Ryan do you want to tell me what you guys are doing out here?” “Cutting class and making out.” Ryan said in a quieter voice. The gym teacher looked like he was going to say something else but instead, he looked at Jeremy with a confused but stern look “I need your name.” “Jer-Jeremy Dooley” He was able to stutter out and the teacher turned his attention back to Ryan “You’re lucky you don’t have gym today Haywood or else it would’ve been extra laps for you. Now get inside and they’ll call you to the main office later today.”

They both nodded and began to walk back to the door they came from. “So where did you get that idea from?” Jeremy said breaking the silence. “Geoff and Griffon would do it sometimes and I always wanted to try it.” Ryan said blushing. “Well I’m glad I was your first. It was fun. Did they ever get caught?” Jeremy cracked a smile. “I don’t think so. But that made it kinda exciting didn’t it?” Ryan opened the door for Jeremy. “It did.” Jeremy smiled and asked, “So where do you wanna go now?” Ryan stopped and thought for a minute before grabbing Jeremy’s hand and leading him around a corner and down a flight of stairs into the basement where there was a little corner where there’s a space from the wall that’s big enough for at least two people to sit in.

Ryan threw his bag down on the stairs and Jeremy did the same. “Ryan Haywood look at you knowing all the secret spots.” Jeremy laughed. “Well, when all your friends are in relationships you just learn the spots.” Ryan said casually. “So who told you about this one?” Jeremy asked curiously. “Jon would bitch about people making out on the stairs on his way to Photo so he decided to take a different set of stairs and got just as annoyed when he saw people making out in this hole and leaving their bags on the stairs.” Ryan said while pulling out his phone to check the time. “You know Jon might actually be down here he kinda lives down here.” Jeremy smiled and Ryan texted Jon.

**To: Jon Risinger 9:29 am**  
“Yo, you down in the basement?”

**From: Jon Risinger 9:30 am**  
“Yeah, and do you know if any of the couples in our friend group are here today? I gotta shoot some people.”

**To: Jon Risinger 9:30 am**   
“If you get your ass over to the hole in the stairs I can help you with that.”

He’s coming, he’s gotta shoot a project about couples would you mind if we helped him out?” Ryan asked. “Yeah sounds fun! What would we have to do?” Jeremy said excitedly. “Not sure, probably look like we're dating.” Ryan replied and Jeremy smiled “Easy.”

Jon came to the stairs with a camera wrapped around his neck. “Hey, guys. So who’s the couple?” They both smiled and Ryan ever so casually said: “You’re looking at em.” Jon looked excited and spoke “That’s so cute I’m happy for you guys! So are you ready for your close-up?” Jon laughed and Ryan and Jeremy both groaned. “You don’t actually say that to your models to you?” Jeremy said. “Nope always wanted to though.” Jon smiled and held up the camera and began to tell them where to go and how to act.

Jon was finished once the bell announcements rang, he turned off his camera and thanked them before he started heading back to the Photo classroom. “What do you have next period?” Ryan asked wanting to spend more time with Jeremy. “I’ve got art you?” Jeremy said grabbing his backpack from the stairs. “I got study hall and I’m having fun hanging out with you.” They both smiled and Jeremy spoke while getting up to stretch. “You could join me, plus I’m sure Lindsay and Griffon wouldn’t be opposed to it.” Jeremy finished his sentence as the bell rang.

“I gotta sign into study hall but it’ll be really quick it’s right up here.” Ryan said while walking up the stairs. Jeremy nodded and followed him up to his classroom. Ryan walked in while Jeremy waited outside, within the next minute or two Ryan came back out with a pass to Jeremy’s art class. They both went back down the same stairs that led them back into the basement. They walked across the basement to a different set of stairs that would lead them to the art rooms.

When they got to the art room Jeremy walked in first and Ryan followed him to a table that Lindsay was at. “Hey, guys! What’s up?” Lindsay said giving them both a hug. “We’ve been kinda rebellious.” Jeremy smirked and Ryan laughed knowing the story already. “Well, now you gotta tell me!” Lindsay exclaimed as she kept working on a drawing of a cat. “Well we were in Forensics and we had a sub so we went under the soccer field bleachers and Ryan’s gym teacher caught us making out.” “Oh my God! Seriously!?!” Lindsay practically shouted before continuing “How much trouble did you get into anyways?” “Don’t know yet. Mr. Green said they would call us to the main office at some point.” Ryan said as Jeremy went to the shelf and grabbed his portfolio where he pulled out the drawing of Ryan’s face and kept working on it. “Seems like you two are learning from Geoff.” They all laughed and kept talking for the rest of the period.

The warning bell rang and Lindsay and Jeremy started to clean up their art and put it back on the shelves. As they both sat back down the bell rang and they said their goodbyes. Ryan and Jeremy must’ve taken about ten steps before the crack of the loudspeaker went off “Jeremy Dooley and Ryan Haywood come down to the principal's office.” There was another crack as the loudspeaker finished the message.

“Well it’s now or never I suppose.” Ryan said lightening the mood as they walked into the main office doors.

When they walked in the receptionist greeted them and they knocked on the door to the principal’s office. “Come in.” A masculine voice said from behind the door. Ryan went in first and Jeremy followed behind him. “Take a seat boys.” The principal said and they nodded. “Hello Mr. Haywood, I’m surprised you’re not in here with Mr. Ramsey. Oh! Mr. Dooley, I’m not sure that we’ve met, I’m Mr. Cusack, the principal.” He held out a hand and Jeremy shook it.

“So, would you like to tell me what happened during third period today.” Mr. Cusack said and Ryan began to retell the events of this morning. “Well, boys you can see why this is an issue right?” He said authoritatively. “Um, cutting class to make out with my boyfriend?” Jeremy said confidently making Ryan laugh but then stopped immediately when Mr. Cusack gave him a look. The room was silent for a minute before he spoke again putting his hand on his face and taking a deep breath “I’m assuming you got this idea from Mr. Ramsey.” Ryan made a noise of approval and Mr. Cusack groaned, making both boys laugh. He continued “Since Mr. Haywood because you have helped a great deal with a certain Mr. Ramsey I’m letting you off this time. Mr. Dooley, because you are still new here and this is our first meeting I’m letting you go. Just please don’t let it happen again.” Ryan and Jeremy nodded and as they were leaving Ryan said: “I’ll tell Geoff you say hi!” Which earned another groan from Mr. Cusack and they left the main office with a smile on each of their faces.

Since that meeting lasted about half of the period and because Ryan really didn’t want to go to math they walked to the basement to go hang with Jon.

“So what was all the stuff with you and Geoff?” Jeremy asked. “Well Geoff would get in trouble for bringing in booze and drinking during the school day and one time he mentioned that I was the only one in our friend group who didn’t drink and knew how to drive they would have me drive him home and he’d get suspended. So because of that Cusack pretty much loves me.” Ryan said that last part with some overconfidence making Jeremy laugh.

Eventually, they reached the Photo room and went to hang with Jon as he edited the pictures of them. Ryan and Jeremy sat on one of the tables in the back while Jon worked on a computer nearby. Jeremy laid his head down in Ryan’s lap and he was playing with Jeremy’s hair. It was nice to watch Jon work, just noticing how all the little changes make the photo look so different from what the picture started out to be.

They bell suddenly rang and Jeremy and Ryan said their goodbyes and went to criminal justice. When they walked into the room they saw that they were just watching a movie and filling out a sheet. They both decided to use these 40 minutes to take a power nap since they both had after school activities today. As soon as the teacher turned off the lights Jeremy and Ryan were passed out.

The two of them woke up when the bell rang and got out of their desks to stretch. When they walked out of the class Griffon and Caiti were waiting for them which was nice because Jack and Geoff weren’t there. They all started talking and made their way into lunch where Lindsay and Meg were waiting for them.

Since Ryan and Jeremy were the only guys at the table the girls used this opportunity to get all the info out of their relationship, it was mainly Meg and Lindsay but the other girls chimed in as well. Jeremy was thankful when the conversation shifted from their relationship to the play. “Ryan we’re having late practice today because of the two rain days. I’m pretty sure we are gonna run through most of the first act with the script so it shouldn’t be too bad.” Meg said as Ryan nodded and replied “I’ll run through it next period and we can also do it in study hall.

The bell rang dismissing the lunch period and Ryan went off to English. Where he spent most of the period running through the script for the play.

After what he swears was the longest 40 minutes of his life he went to study hall where Meg and Lindsay were waiting for him each holding their copy of their Rocky Horror Picture Show script. They surprisingly got through a good chunk of it in the 40 minutes with Ryan as Brad, Meg as Janet, and Lindsay as Columbia and whoever else the needed her to be just for the sake of the run through.

It was time for play practice as the three of them went down to the auditorium and waited for Mr. Heyman to start rehearsing. He showed up and they immediately starting with the opening song Dammit Janet. Ryan sang the song with a few flubs here and there but that’s what practice was for. Everything went smoothly and they were able to get through the first act in about 2 hours which left time for choreography practice which Ryan was not ready for. It wasn’t that any of it was hard it was just the repetitive motions of it all really took a toll on him. After about four hours of dancing, practice was over and they were able to go home.

Ryan stopped by a fast food drive through on the way home and ate his food in the car before getting home, plugging his phone into the living room charger and passing out on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda got carried away with this one but I like writing my boys in cute scenarios.   
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.   
> Hope you have a lovely day! (: ~Kate


	11. Sweet Treats and Gymnastics!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pretty much this entire chapter listening to the songs from The Wiz episode of Always Sunny. It's also almost 3 am so I'm going to sleep now. Happy reading!

Ryan’s eyes snapped open and he was breathing heavily. Sweat matted his hair to his forehead. Seeing nothing but the darkness didn’t help Ryan’s panicked state but after a moment he felt his surroundings and most of the panic went away when he felt the familiar feeling of the suede couch and fuzzy blanket that his mother must’ve put over him when he came home.

He had that nightmare again, the one where he was drowning and all his friends were just watching it happen, laughing or making hurtful comments. Ryan didn’t want to go back to sleep so he found his phone on the nearby coffee table and checked the time.

After being momentarily blinded by the screen he turned down the brightness and saw that it was 1:32 am. Ryan quietly groaned and check his messages.

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 3:21 pm**  
“We’re all gone for one day and you guys decide to cut class to make out. I’m so proud. Looks like I’m rubbing off on you Ryan!”

**[Dickheads] From: Jack Pattillo 3:21 pm**  
“Well, I’m sure there are worse things that could rub off on him.”

**[Dickheads] From: Michael Jones 3:24 pm**  
“Wow, Geoff get fucked!!”

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 5:06 pm**   
“Can’t let you guys have all the fun now, can we? (;”

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 5:08 pm**  
“Sounds like you two banged.”

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 5:08 pm**  
“We didn't.”

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 6:13 pm**  
“Anyone up for some Trivial Pursuit?”

**[Dickheads] From: Gavin Free 6:14 pm**  
“Sounds top!”

**[Dickheads] From: Michael Jones 6:15 pm**   
“Turning on my Xbox now.”

**[Dickheads] From: Jack Pattillo 6:15 pm**  
“Sure!”

Ryan clicked off his group chat to see a message from Gavin.

**From: Gavin Free 8:26 pm**  
“Hey, I need your help with English. I have a quiz tomorrow on Shakespeare but he's so damn boring I can't keep myself awake in class.”

**To: Gavin Free 1:38 am**  
“Sorry I just woke up, but I'll definitely help you in Marine Eco tomorrow. Shakespeare's not that bad. (:”

Ryan felt his eyes getting heavy again and he didn't want to go back to sleep and deal with that nightmare again. He just wanted to be with someone he cared about, Ryan decided to text Jeremy not knowing if he was even still awake.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 1:41 am**   
“Hey, you awake?”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 1:41 am**  
“Yeah.”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 1:41 am**  
“Oh! I didn't think you'd be up.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 1:42 am**  
“Working on a powerpoint with Matt and Trevor. Why are you up then?”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 1:43 am**  
“I got home from play practice, knocked out on the couch and woke up from a nightmare.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 1:43 am**  
“Awwwww babe I'm sorry to hear that, wanna talk about it?”

Ryan smiled at his boyfriend's concern, then he thought about the question some more; he never talked to anyone about his nightmare and he didn't want to bother Jeremy with his problems.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 1:46 am**   
“No, it's kinda stupid.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 1:46 am**   
“You sure? Can't be that stupid if it's keeping you up at night.”

Ryan admired Jeremy's persistence and before he was able to write a reply his phone buzzed in his hand.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 1:46 am**  
“I'll always be here if ya need to talk (:”

Ryan read over that text and felt safe. Maybe it couldn't hurt to talk about his nightmares with someone.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 1:52 am**  
“Not really an in-text subject.”

Ryan closed his messages, figuring he'd just tell Jeremy about tomorrow but instead his phone rang and Jeremy's name and picture flashed on the screen.

Ryan picked up instantly and he heard how tired Jeremy was in his voice. “Are you sure you want to talk about this now? You sound tired and I can always tell you tomorrow, I don't want to keep you up on the night before your gymnastics meet.”

“Trust me I was gonna be up for a while more anyways.” Jeremy's voice sounded reassuring and just as he was about to speak Ryan heard a can opening on the other end and knew that it was either a Monster or a Red Bull.

“Alright so I've had this nightmare before, and I don't know why it comes back when it does but pretty much what happens is.” Ryan paused for a moment to take a deep breath and he heard a response noise from Jeremy as he was listening.

“I'm hanging out with the entire group just hanging and having fun, and it doesn't matter where we are but all of a sudden a big wave of water will come and I'll start drowning. Everyone will just watch it happen and instead of trying to help me they'll just laugh and say mean things. Or sometimes they'll push me further down and then I wake up.” Ryan didn't realize how shaky his voice had become until he stopped talking.

“Ryan, just listen to me. Take deep breaths and everything is going to be okay.” Jeremy's voice was soft and soothing. Ryan followed his advice and took deep breaths. He kept taking deep breaths until Jeremy spoke again: “Anything else I can do for you?” Ryan thought for a moment and started to talk “I just want to hear the sound of your voice.”

“I can do that.” Jeremy said as he just began talking, it started off as rambling but then it turned into him talking about his life back in Boston, only stopping to take a drink or yawn. When he did Ryan would be able to hear the quiet clicks of his keyboard in the background. Ryan could hear the passion in his voice. He’s always enjoyed listening to listening to people talk about something they're really into, whether it’s Gavin with science or Michael talking about whatever show he was watching, Ryan liked hearing about him talk about Mountain Monsters the most.

Jeremy was in the middle of telling Ryan the story about what he and his friends would do when it snowed in Boston. As much as Ryan wanted to hear about what Jeremy did in order to get snow shoved down the back of his jacket, he looked over at the clock near the TV and saw that they've been talking for a good two hours and he should let the boy sleep.

“Jeremy.” Ryan interrupted, “Thank you so much for this it really means a lot. But I think you should get to sleep. You've got that meet tomorrow.” Ryan heard Jeremy sigh on the other end and spoke: “I'm here for you anytime Rye.” Ryan's heart fluttered at the sentiment. “What’re you going to do?” Jeremy said following a noise that sounded like his laptop closing, “What?” Ryan answered confused. “If I go to bed, what are you going to do?” Jeremy clarified and asked again. “I’m not sure, but I feel much better now. Thank you.” Ryan said sweetly. “Alright, I’m going to bed, only because you told me you were fine. If something else happens no matter what time it is you call me, got it Rye?” Jeremy said firm but affectionately and Ryan smiled even though Jeremy couldn’t see him doing so. “Promise, goodnight Jeremy see you tomorrow.” “See you tomorrow Rye.” Jeremy said with a final yawn before Ryan ended the call so Jeremy would have to go to sleep.

Ryan turned off his phone and decided that he should go to his room and put on some comfier clothes since he was still in his jeans and the sweater he wore to school today. He also hadn’t taken out his contacts in a while and he probably should do that before he goes blind.

Ryan walked up the stairs to his room and threw on whatever pajamas were on the floor, took out his contacts and grabbed his glasses off of the nightstand, and thought about what he was going to do before he had to wake up for school the next morning since sleeping is out of the question. Ryan turned on his TV and grabbed his Xbox controller, figuring he’d play one of the Tell Tale games since those are pretty much like watching a really long movie, plus you had some control. He scrolled through his collection to see if there was one that he hadn’t played and he couldn’t find one. But as he kept looking he found that he must’ve downloaded Life is Strange at one point, probably at the recommendation of Geoff.

So he booted up the game and played through the first two episodes and about half of the third one until his alarm for school went off.

Ryan saved his progress and turned off his Xbox before he went into the bathroom to carry on with his normal routine. When Ryan got out of his shower he really didn’t feel like putting his contacts in so he stuck with the glasses look. Ryan went to his room to look for something to wear and decided on some tan pants and a light blue shirt when he looked in the mirror he kind of looked like an English teacher but he was digging the look. Ryan went back to the bathroom and dried his hair a little bit better for the sake of this new look.

Ryan was feeling good so he decided to do a donut run for the guys in first period so he sent a quick text to Michael, in case he was going to bring kolaches.

**To: Michael Jones 6:48 am**   
“Hey going out for donuts this morning, don’t worry about bringing anything (:”

**From: Michael Jones 6:48 am**  
“Cool. Thanks, dude.”

Ryan drove to a small little bakery that just opened up by him and went in. He had never been in before but it seemed like a nice little place, Ryan was the only person in there taking in the smell of all the freshly baked pastries that were put into the glass display by the counter. Ryan walked over to the section of the display where all the donuts were and made a mental note of which ones he was going to order. Ryan went up to the counter and patiently waited for someone to come and take his order.   
It wasn’t long before a boy who looked to be about Ryan’s age came and helped him. He had swoopy hair that was sort of on the orange spectrum and said everything with a smile. “Hi! How can I help you?” The worker said cheerily. “This place just opened up by my house and I’ve never been here before, and I was wondering what donuts you’d recommend.” The guy nodded and started speaking “Well everything we make is homemade and some of my favorite donuts are the Boston creme pie, chocolate glazed, and the cinnamon sugar one.” He said in the same cheery voice. “Okay so I’m going to order a dozen donuts: two Boston creme pie, chocolate glazed, and cinnamon sugar, strawberry frosted, chocolate frosted, and vanilla frosted.” Ryan waited for her to put all the donuts in the box and she rang him up. “So is this for a work breakfast?” He asked trying to make small talk. “No, just wanted to surprise some friends in first period.” Ryan said politely while his wallet out of his pocket and paid for the donuts. “Oh! I’m sorry, have a good day at school.” He smiled and Ryan thanked her.

Ryan went back to his car and placed the box carefully in the passenger seat making sure they wouldn’t move around too much and get ruined. Ryan quickly stopped at the nearest gas station and grabbed himself a few Diet Cokes, he would need them to stay awake through the day and for Jeremy’s meet after school.

Ryan got to school and parked. He grabbed the box of donuts and started to make his way to first period since the bell was going to ring soon anyways. Ryan found his friends at their usual table and put the box down on the table, receiving happy looks from Michael, Jeremy, and Gavin. “Ryan you shouldn’t have!” Jeremy said hugging him. “Thanks, Ryan!” Gavin said inspecting the contents of the box. Ryan pointed to the donuts and explained what the flavors were and everyone took one: Jeremy took one a Boston creme pie one, Michael grabbed a vanilla frosted, Gavin had a chocolate frosted, and Ryan tried one of the cinnamon ones.

“Ryan this is so good where’d you get these?” Jeremy said in between each bite of donut. “This little bakery called Sugar Attack just opened right near my house. It’s a cute little family run business all of their stuff is homemade.”

They kept grabbing donuts and making small talk when Jeremy asked: “Since when do you wear glasses?” “Whenever I don’t feel like wearing contacts but still want to be able to see.” Ryan said sarcastically earning him a playful punch in the shoulder from Jeremy.

Ryan spent the rest of the period teaching Gavin everything he needed to know about Shakespeare, so he wouldn’t fail his English quiz later today.

When the period ended there were still four donuts left and after Michael and Gavin turned them down Ryan decided to kept the box in his locker and wait until forensics to offer them to Jack and Geoff. He told this to Jeremy as they walked to his locker and up to each of their History classes.

When Ryan sat in his desk he made the note that he was going to fall asleep in any class that wasn’t gym or didn’t have any friends in it. So sticking to this new plan Ryan immediately fell asleep in History and didn’t even care. Eventually, the bell woke him up forty-two minutes later and he stretched as Jeremy was waiting for him so they could walk to class together.

“Hey gotta grab the donuts from my locker wanna come with?” Ryan asked and Jeremy nodded his head and smiled. On the way to Ryan’s locker, they were making small talk, “So excited for your gymnastics meet today?” Ryan asked curiously. “Yeah, but I always get a little bit nervous whenever I have to do a meet because it’s how I met Sebastian, but I should be fine, it’s not like he’s gonna be here in Austin.” Jeremy let out a kind of nervous laugh, and Ryan laughed alongside him so maybe he’d be a little less worried.

“If you don’t mind me asking what does Sebastian look like anyways?” Ryan asked. Jeremy took a deep and Ryan quickly interjected: “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” But, Jeremy answered him anyways “Well he’s around my height, he’s got dark brown hair in kinda a swoopy bowl cut, and he’s got glasses with somewhat thick black rims.” Jeremy says as they get to their classroom where Jack and Geoff were already sitting in their desks. “So it sounds like gymnastics stunts male growth.” Ryan said laughing as they sat in their seats. “Oh shut up Rye!” Jeremy said punching his arm.

“Trouble in paradise already?” Jack asked as he and Geoff laughed. “No.” Jeremy and Ryan said in a synchronized monotoned voice, making Geoff and Jack laugh harder than they already were.

“So what’s in the box?” Geoff asked curiously while fidgeting in his seat.

“Donuts, go wild.” Ryan said while explaining the remaining flavors to Jack and Geoff. They both thanked Ryan and spent the period talking. Geoff was talking about how he has this whole plan to shove things up Gavin’s butt during lunch and in the hallway when the bell for announcements rang, most of what they were saying wasn’t important until they started talking about the gymnastics meet “The first gymnastics meet of the season is today at 3:30, come show school spirit!”

With that, the bell rang and Ryan had to go to his next class following his policy to sleep because he had to rest up for having gym next period.

Ryan slept through his class with ease and groaned when he walked into the gym locker room to get changed for gym. Ryan was in and out of the locker room, not wanting to spend more time in there than he needs too. When he walked into the gym he found his teacher and sat on the bleachers near where he was writing down the workout for the day. “Morning.” Ryan said hoping that his teacher would forget about how he saw him and Jeremy making out yesterday.

“Haywood, if you think being nice to me is going to make me forget about you sneaking out of class to make out with your boyfriend then you are wrong. You're going to be working a little harder than the other students.” The teacher moved away from the whiteboard and Ryan started writing down the workout when he saw written in capital letters “A CERTAIN STUDENT IS GOING TO BE RUNNING THE TRACK FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION OF THE WORKOUT!” When Ryan saw that it was a fifteen-minute workout he was going to pass out then and there. But, Ryan put on his big boy pants and ran the track until he was going to either pass out or throw up. When his teacher blew the whistle for them to go inside and change Ryan had never been more relieved.

Ryan quickly changed back into his normal clothes and grabbed the remaining Diet Coke from his bag and chugged it, which in retrospect may not have been the best decision but who cares. Finally, the bell rang ending the period and Ryan took his sweet ass time and went to math.

When Ryan got to his class he immediately knocked the fuck out. Only waking up when the bell rang. Ryan was really happy to be out of that class and then he remembered that criminal justice class was upstairs and wanted to cry.

By a miracle of God Ryan somehow made it up the stairs. When he sat down in his seat Geoff looked over to him and ever so politely said: “You look like shit.” “Thanks, Geoff. Well, I just had to run the track for fifteen minutes because I got caught making out with Jeremy behind the bleachers yesterday!” Geoff nodded his head thanking the lord that he didn’t have to run. “Sorry Ryan.” Jeremy put his head down and said in a soft-spoken mumbled voice. “Don’t be. It was worth it.” Ryan said with a wink, while Jack and Geoff both sang saxophone part from Careless Whisper.

Finally, the bell rang and they met Griffon, and Caiti and went to lunch to see everyone. When everyone got to lunch, Meg took notice of his outfit and exclaimed: “Ooh Rye look at you in this outfit!” “What’s wrong with my outfit?” Ryan said looking down at what he was wearing “Nothing! You just look like a hot English teacher!” Meg said and the other girls started laughing. “I mean she’s not wrong.” Jeremy said giving Ryan a kiss on the cheek while the guys laughed and the girls “Oohed.” Ryan sat down and directed the conversation towards anyone but himself, “Hey Gavin how was the English quiz?” Ryan said trying to sound interested. “Ryan I knew everything on the quiz! You’re so smart!” Ryan laughed and they kept talking.   
Lunch was fun but Ryan was really looking forward to getting to English and sleeping so he was well rested for Jeremy’s gymnastics meet. The bell rang and they all parted ways. Ryan once again made it up the stairs and got to English where he held open his book and fell asleep. Larry woke him up when the bell rang Ryan thanked him, and went to study hall where Lindsay was waiting for him.   
“Hey, Rye got any plans after school today?” Lindsay asked very knowing the answer. “Going to Jeremy's Gymnastics meet after school, but that’s at 3:30 but I don’t know what to do before then though?” Lindsay thought for a moment before answering him. “Well, Michael said you brought really good donuts this morning, so you should bring him like a celebration cupcake or something.” “Lindsay that’s a great idea!” Ryan exclaimed. They kept talking about weekend plans because Lindsay and Michael were going on a date this weekend and she’s excited about it.

The bell eventually rang and Ryan quickly texted Jeremy before he got onto the bus to practice for the meet.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 2:20 pm**   
“Hey, where is your meet?”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 2:20 pm**   
“It’s at UT in the gym.”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 2:21 pm**   
“Good luck! I’ll see you then!”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 2:21 pm**  
“<3”

Ryan went to his car and went home to quickly dropped his bag off at home and then took Lindsay’s advice and went back to the bakery to get some congratulations cupcakes.

When Ryan walked in, the only other people in the bakery was a mom and her daughter sharing a slice of cake. Ryan walked up to the counter and the same swoopy-haired ginger boy from this morning helped him “Hello again! How’d your friends like the donuts?” He kept the same cheery voice from earlier. “They were good!” Ryan kept up the boy’s positive tone and looked in the glass display for where the cupcakes were.

“Seems like you’re looking for something special. Can I help you?” He said with a bright smile on his face. “Yeah, I wanted to get my boyfriend some celebratory cupcakes for after his first gymnastics meet. Any flavors you recommend?” Ryan asked not looking up from the display.

“Ooh well the cannoli cupcakes are really good and I really like the s'mores flavored ones.” He said pointing to which ones he was talking about in the display. Ryan looked at both of them and couldn’t decide between the two of them. “You know what I’m going to order two of each!” Ryan said happily. The worker nodded his head and put the cupcakes in a box for Ryan. “Here you go, it’s going to be $12. My name’s Chad by the way, and tell your boyfriend I wish him the best of luck!” “I’m Ryan and thank you so much, I will” Ryan smiled and walked out the door.

When Ryan got into his car he checked the time and saw that it was 3:10 and he quickly drove to UT. When he finally found a spot, it was pretty much 3:30 Ryan ran into the building, being careful not to ruin the cupcakes and went straight to the gym. When he got inside, Ryan found a spot in the front row of the bleachers and started to look around to look for Jeremy.

While Ryan was searching for Jeremy’s familiar brown and green hair he found a boy with a swoopy bowl cut hairstyle that looked like the description of Sebastian that Jeremy told him about this morning. Ryan thought he might’ve have been thinking a little too hard about it until the boy turned around and had glasses with thick black rims. Ryan took a deep breath and he had to make sure Jeremy didn’t know about this, if he knew about his ex who he met through gymnastics was here he’d totally freak out and get all nervous.

Eventually, the loudspeaker came on and the announcer’s voice boomed through the gym speakers “Alright everyone welcome to the gymnastics meet between the home team, Austin High and the away team, Huntington High!” The crowd cheered and both schools walked out. Ryan spotted Jeremy at the end of the line and waved to him, Jeremy smiled and waved back and went to shake the other team’s hands. Ryan knew Sebastian was at the end of the opposing school's line, and nervously watched the exchange between the two boys.

Ryan could tell from where he was sitting that when Jeremy said Sebastian’s face, Jeremy’s face had turned from a healthy pink to a ghostly white. They both shook hands and Ryan saw Sebastian whisper something to Jeremy, from where Ryan was sitting he couldn’t tell what was being said but whatever it was Ryan didn’t like the sound of it.

The two teams went to opposite sides of the gym and Ryan saw one of the girls on his team walk over to him and tried to calm him and offer him a water bottle. For some reason, the girl looked familiar but he couldn’t place the thought. Ryan kept thinking of where he knew the girl from but nothing came to mind until the announcer's voice came through the sound system again “The first event will be the floor routine beginning with Austin High’s own Claire Hannon!” The crowd cheered and Ryan finally recognized the girl as the one who accidentally kicked him in the face and then got him a Red Bull because she felt bad.

Her routine started with some pop song that he’d heard over on the radio at one point during the last month, her moves were perfectly timed with the beat of the song. Towards the end of her performance, she kicked out her leg and Ryan quietly laughed to himself, knowing that that’s the move which gave Jeremy the bruise. When she finished the crowd cheered, and the girl walked over to where her team was and Jeremy gave her a hug, which Ryan smiled at, he liked seeing Jeremy congratulating his teammates. Then Huntington High’s routine went, Ryan still clapped for them after their performance but if he is being honest his school’s routine was better.

More and more events were being called and neither Jeremy or Sebastian went, Ryan was really curious to what they were doing. He just really hoped they weren’t doing the same event, Ryan didn’t want Jeremy to have the added pressure of competing with his ex.

The event was coming to close when the announcer’s voice came over the loudspeaker “Alright our last event is going to be the rings! Now please give it up for Jeremy Dooley from Austin High!” Ryan cheered louder than everyone else which earned some looks from the other people watching but, he was going to be the super supportive boyfriend damn it.

Jeremy started his routine and Ryan watched in awe as Jeremy maneuvered himself through the rings, twirling his legs around his arms and around the rings. Ryan knew that Jeremy was pretty strong just by looking at his arms but damn, the amount of strength needed to hold himself up and swing his legs around had to be tremendous. Jeremy did some flips and Ryan cheered. Once, Jeremy’s routine was over Ryan gave him a standing ovation, and he was sure he could see Jeremy blush.

When Ryan sat down the person competing with Jeremy was announced: “And now for Huntington High’s final participant doing the rings Sebastian Blot!” Everyone clapped and he started to do the rings, he was impressive but in his totally unbiased opinion, Jeremy was better. When Sebastian was done, everyone clapped and there was going to be a fifteen-minute intermission for the judges to calculate the scores and so the audience can stretch. Ryan left the box of cupcakes on the bleachers and went to go find a bathroom.

When coming out of the bathroom Ryan ran into Jeremy and gave him a huge hug. “You were so great!” Ryan exclaimed while kissing him, not caring that he was kinda sweaty. “Thanks, Rye! It means a lot that you came today.” Jeremy was blushing and before Ryan could answer a third voice interrupted them. “Well long time no see Dooley. I see you’ve moved on.” They both turned around and saw Sebastian. “By moved on do you mean I found someone who doesn’t just want me for sex? Because if so then I did. His name is Ryan and he’s one of the best things that’s happened to me since I left Boston.” Jeremy said in a serious tone. The truth in Jeremy’s words made Ryan’s heart want to leap out of his chest. “Well, it makes sense for someone as pathetic as you to find someone equally pathetic.” Sebastian snarled and walked away.

Something came over Ryan as he tried to charge forward and attack Sebastian. Ryan felt Jeremy’s hand over his chest, and Ryan looked down at the younger boy. “Don’t, just let the scores do the talking.” Jeremy said calmly as he took his hand away and gave Ryan a kiss on the cheek. Ryan nodded and began to walk back to the bleachers proud of how maturely Jeremy handled that whole situation.

A few minutes later the announcer's voice blared through the loud speaker for a final time to say the scores “Wow! What a great way to start off the gymnastic season! Both teams put up a strong fight but there can only be one winner! The winner is.” He paused for a chance for the audience to start a drumroll and when he was happy with the results he spoke again “The winner is Austin High!” Ryan gave another standing ovation as the team bowed.

Both schools did one final handshake before the teams went back to the locker rooms so they could change and then they were released to the audience to the crowd. Jeremy went towards Ryan and gave him an another big hug. “Congrats on winning! I got you these and they seem more appropriate that you won.” Ryan handed Jeremy the box and he inspected the box, carefully opening it revealing the four cupcakes. “Let’s eat these in your car! I’m so tired and these look fantastic! Are they from the same place the donuts were from?” Jeremy asked, following Ryan to where he parked his car.

Ryan unlocked his car and Jeremy threw his stuff into the backseat before joining Ryan in the front seat. “I know somewhere we can go to eat these.” Ryan said sticking his key into the ignition. Jeremy nodded and looked out the window while holding Ryan’s free hand.

Ryan parked his car into the bakery that he had now been to for the third time in one day. “Where are we?” Jeremy asked as they walked through the front door. “The birthplace of these cupcakes and the donuts.” Ryan smiled and they took a seat at an open table.

“Hey, Ryan long time no see!” Chad said eagerly and Ryan waved to him. “I know it’s been quite the day.” “How was your boyfriend’s gymnastics meet? Were the cupcakes a hit?” Chad asked happily. “Well I brought him here and we haven’t had them yet.” Ryan said as Jeremy and Chad introduced themselves. “Well enjoy! I’m here if you guys need anything!” Chad said as he walked into the kitchen.

Jeremy and Ryan dug into the cupcakes delighted at how good they are, when they were finished they said goodbye to Chad and went back to Ryan’s car.

“Today’s been fun.” Jeremy says out loud and Ryan agrees starting up his car. “Hey I don’t want to be a buzzkill but you do mind just dropping me home because I’m really tired.” Jeremy said quietly, not wanting to offend Ryan. “Yeah totally! You’ve had a long day.” Ryan said with a sincere smile and Jeremy was happy for being able to date a such a sweet guy.

When they arrived at Jeremy’s house Jeremy spoke “I know this kinda ends the nice afternoon we had and-” Ryan stopped him before he could go any further, “Take a nap, if you feel up to something later, text me but only if you’re feeling up to it.” Ryan gave him a quick kiss on the lips and Jeremy went inside.

Ryan drove home, wondering how everything in his life was going great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if I got anything about gymnastics wrong, I quit when I was little cause I was the chunky kid everyone made fun cause I couldn't do a cartwheel.   
> Comments and Kudos are hell appreciated.  
> Have a nice day! (: ~Kate


	12. Dessert Comes After Dinner (;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know finals time is approaching so hopefully this chapter lightens your mood!

Ryan got home and turned on his Xbox and was immediately invited to a party by Jack. “What’s up Rye?” Gavin asked politely. “Just got back from Jeremy’s gymnastics meet. What are we playing?” “Rainbow Six: Siege. Ooh did you guys touch butts?” Geoff said cackling. Ryan groaned and opened up the game and joined Jack’s game.   
  
“Let’s go hunt some terrorists boys!” Gavin said as he immediately shot Geoff nearly killing him while trying to do a trick shot to impress Michael. “Gavin! What the fuck!” Multiple people exclaimed at Gavin. “I was trying to do a trick.” Gavin said trying to defend his actions. “What was the trick that you shoot me?” Geoff said with mostly fake annoyance. At the same time Ryan decided that this round was basically over, so he began to shoot everyone and then ran head first into the terrorists. “Ryan!” Michael wheezed out in between laughs “You monster!”   
  
A few rounds passed and they still couldn’t beat the mission, whether it was someone would shoot someone else or someone wouldn’t listen to what the others were saying leading them to get killed by a terrorist. Eventually, people started leaving and then Ryan was the only person left.   
  
Just as Ryan was about to turn on Netflix, there was a knock on his bedroom door. “Come in.” Ryan said knowing that it was his mom. “Hey sweetie, there’s going to some people over from work for dinner. I know these things can be kind of dull but if you want you can bring a friend to join us.” Ryan’s mom said smiling.   
  
Ryan nodded and texted Jeremy.  
  
**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:48 pm**  
“Hey my mom is throwing a dinner with some people from her work, but she said I could bring someone, wanna come?”   
  
Ryan put his phone down and went downstairs to the kitchen where his mother was grabbing some things out of a cabinet. “What’re you making?” Ryan asked curiously. “Spaghetti and meatballs. Sound good?” Ryan shook his head and was about to go upstairs when his mom called him “Ryan could you run to the store and grab some ingredients?” Ryan turned around to face her “Yeah mom what do you need?” She began to write down a list of everything that she would need and handed it to Ryan as he went back upstairs to grab his phone.   
  
Ryan checked his phone as he went down the stairs.   
  
**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:51 pm**  
“I was just about to text you! Dinner sounds great! Anything special I need to wear?”  
  
Ryan smiled at Jeremy’s commitment to impress his mother and the people she worked with.   
  
**To: Jeremy Dooley 6:54 pm**  
“Button down and nice pants should be fine. I’ll pick you up in about 25 minutes.”  
  
**From: Jeremy Dooley 6:54 pm**  
“See you then!”   
  
Ryan put his phone in his pocket and went into the kitchen “Hey can I have some money? Also, Jeremy is gonna come for dinner.” “That’s wonderful I can’t wait to see him. Take this.” Ryan’s mom smiled and handed him her credit card. “You should know what my signature looks like by now.” She continued and Ryan laughed, taking the card and shoving the card into his pocket.  
  
Ryan got into his car and started driving to the supermarket to pick up the things on the list. Luckily for Ryan, all the things he needed were in the produce aisles so he got what he was looking for fairly quickly. Ryan was looking for an open checkout lane when he saw a familiar face.   
  
Ryan walked closer and Jack noticed him and waved. “Ryan! What’s up?” Jack said while scanning his items. “Just picking up some stuff for my mom, we’ve got guests coming over for dinner.” Ryan said putting more items on the belt trying to speed the process along. “That’s fun. Did you guys beat the mission after I left?” Jack continued to work and Ryan laughed “Absolutely not! More people started to leave after you did.” Jack chuckled and Ryan swiped the card and paid. “Bye Jack!” Ryan said grabbing the bags.   
  
Ryan put the bags in his backseat and started to drive home because getting these to his mom was more important than getting Jeremy, plus this would give Jeremy more time to get ready.   
  
Ryan walked into the front door and put the bags on the counter next to his mom and handed her card back to her. “Mom I’m gonna change and then pick up Jeremy.” Ryan announced while heading up the stairs to his room. Ryan looked through his closet and found a white button down and some dark pants. Ryan texted Jeremy to let him know that he was coming.   
  
**To: Jeremy Dooley 7:04 pm**  
“On my way.”   
  
**From: Jeremy Dooley 7:04 pm**  
“Sweet.”   
  
Ryan went into his car and as soon as he began driving a wave of nervousness hit him. Ryan didn’t know why he felt this way all of a sudden, Jeremy and his mom met before and they seemed to like each other so it couldn’t be that. Was it the fact that his mother’s business partners were coming over? Ryan was never one to really care about what judgments other people made about him, but he had never brought someone over for one of these dinners.   
  
He turned on the radio to try and get the thoughts out of his head. Ryan quietly sang along to the cheesy pop song that was on the radio and pulled to Jeremy’s house. Ryan pulled out his phone and texted Jeremy.   
  
**To: Jeremy Dooley 7:11 pm**  
“Here (:”   
  
**From: Jeremy Dooley 7:11 pm**  
“Cool.”   
  
Jeremy walked out the door and Ryan started laughing. When Jeremy got into the car he was just about to ask why Ryan was laughing until he saw that he and Ryan were wearing the same thing. “Well one of us has to change.” Ryan tried to say sarcastically but his laughing was ruining it. “Nah I like it, we look cute.” Jeremy said while kissing him on the cheek. “Alright. Ready for dinner?” Ryan smiled and started driving back to his house. “Yeah what’s for dinner?” Jeremy questioned. “Spaghetti and Meatballs. So it seems like we both made a bad choice wearing white.” Ryan smirked and Jeremy laughed.   
  
Ryan still felt nervous, Jeremy being in the car and distracting him was helping but he still didn’t know why this was happening. “Rye?” Jeremy’s voice was soft and a bit concerned, pulling Ryan out of his thoughts. “Yeah?” Ryan asked curiously. “Something wrong? You’re kinda gripping the steering wheel pretty hard there.” Ryan quickly looked down and saw that his knuckles were slowly turning white. “Oh.” Ryan mumbled out quietly, he must’ve done that subconsciously.   
  
Ryan found an empty lot and pulled over so he could take his hands off the wheel. As soon as Ryan removed his hands, Jeremy grabbed one and started rubbing it which felt nice. “What’s wrong?” Jeremy said calmly while he undid his seatbelt and turned to face Ryan. “On the way over to your house I got really nervous and I can’t figure out why.” Ryan breathed out, feeling good to tell someone. “Hmm, maybe it’s the people from your mom’s work?” Ryan thought for a minute all the previous dinners that he had with his mother’s work colleagues, trying to think of the worst dinners he had and maybe there was a single reason that they were so bad.   
  
Ryan gasped and Jeremy jumped, scared at the sudden movement. “Rye?” Jeremy questioned in a gentle tone. “I figured out why I’m so nervous.” Jeremy had a small smile on his face “That’s great! What’s the reason?” “My mom’s boss, Derek, who comes over every once in awhile and he’s just really intimidating and judgemental he’s also kind of an ass, to be honest.” “Don’t worry Rye, if he says anything rude I’ll fight him.” Jeremy said putting his fists up. Ryan smiled and kissed the top of his head “Thank you.” Ryan started the car and drove back to his house.   
  
By the time they got there his mother’s work partners haven’t shown up yet which Ryan was glad for. “Hey, mom!” Ryan said taking off his shoes. “Hello, Mrs. Haywood!” Jeremy said following Ryan’s lead. She greeted them both and Jeremy sat with Ryan on the couch while his mom finished up dinner. “Will you boys help set the table?” “Sure!” They both responded while getting up.  
  
They were almost done setting up the table the doorbell rang and Ryan’s mother opened it. As long as Derek didn’t walk in, he’ll be fine. When the door opened he took a breath of relief as a man who was just a little shorter than him with very blonde hair walked in. “Ryan.” The man said while holding out his hand for Ryan to shake it. “Anthony.” Ryan returned the gesture and smiled. “And who’s this?” Anthony walked past Ryan and headed towards Jeremy. “I’m Ryan’s” Jeremy hesitated and Ryan gave him a discreet thumbs up, letting him know that Anthony would be cool with it. “Boyfriend, Jeremy.” Jeremy said with a smile as he shook Anthony’s hand and Anthony introduced himself “That’s great, I hope you two are happy together.” “Thank you.” Jeremy said happily.   
  
Ryan’s mom walked over to him and said: “I’m going to go change if anyone else comes answer the door.” Ryan nodded and his mother left. He went back to where Anthony and Jeremy were and joined the conversation.   
  
The doorbell rang and Ryan excused himself to go answer it. When he opened the door he could swear that all the color in his face vanished along with any confidence he had that this dinner would go well. “Hello Derek, please come in.” Ryan said trying not to let his nervousness show. Ryan moved out of the way to let the taller dark haired man in. “Ryan where’s your mother?” Derek asked. “She’s getting changed.” Ryan said as Derek turned to where Anthony and Jeremy were.   
  
Derek and Anthony were catching up when Derek noticed Jeremy turned to him. “Hello son I’m Derek and it's nice to meet me, the pleasure is yours.” He held out his hand for Jeremy to shake, Ryan saw the look of disgust on Jeremy’s face and had to try his best not to laugh. “Hello, I’m Ryan’s friend Jeremy.” Jeremy shook his hand and Ryan joined them in their conversation.   
  
Ryan’s mother came down the stairs, in a black dress and greeted Derek and asked everybody to take a seat for dinner. Ryan’s mother sat at the table with Derek to her left and Anthony on her right. Leaving Ryan and Jeremy sitting across his mother and Derek.   
  
Once everyone had a plate full of food, Derek started to ask the more questions to Ryan. “So Ryan, do you have a girlfriend?” Derek asked and Ryan grabbed Jeremy’s hand under the table. Derek didn’t seem to notice the slight change in everyone’s look around the table. “I don’t, I’m not really looking for a relationship with any of the girls at my school.” Ryan said quickly eating more of his food so he wouldn’t have to answer any more questions right away.   
  
Derek gave up and started to talk business with his mom and Anthony. Ryan looked over at Jeremy and mouthed “I’m sorry about him.” Jeremy smiled and mouthed back “Not your fault he’s a dick.” Ryan quietly giggled at that and Jeremy smiled. Soon they were done with dinner and Ryan was helping his mom clear off the table while he overheard Derek talking to Jeremy.   
  
First, it started out as small talk, asking about school and if he was from around here, but as Ryan sat back down at the table Derek asked: “So, Jeremy any girls catch your eye at school?” Jeremy quickly looked over at Ryan and scooted his chair over to him before taking a deep breath and started to speak “No, but I do have a boyfriend. He’s super sweet, funny, anyone would be lucky to have him, and I love him.” Ryan’s face was flushed red, and he was at a loss for words. So Ryan did the only natural thing and leaned in to kiss him.   
  
The kiss didn’t last long because they were interrupted by the sound of chairs being aggressively scooted out from the table. Derek stormed off most likely disgusted at what he saw, and Anthony followed after him but he gave a thumbs up to Ryan and Jeremy as he left. They both laughed and Ryan’s mom told them that she was going up to her to sleep off the majority of this dinner. Ryan nodded and he told his mom “I’m going to go drop Jeremy off at his house.” She nodded and went up the stairs.   
  
They got into the car and as they were driving Jeremy spoke with a smirk on his face “You know, if you want to continue this, we could always go back to my house, my parents aren’t home.” Ryan’s eyes filled with lust and didn’t answer but he was pretty sure that him speeding down the road was enough of answer for Jeremy.  
  
In record time Ryan pulled into Jeremy’s driveway and Jeremy scrambled to unlock the door. When the door was finally open they both went into Jeremy’s room, closed the door, kicked off their shoes, and sat on the bed where they continued where they left off.   
  
Ryan pulled Jeremy’s lips onto his and Ryan's heart started to beat faster, Ryan decided to let Jeremy take the lead has focused more on getting his hands on Jeremy’s ass as quick as possible. While Ryan’s hands were exploring Jeremy’s body, he would often get sidetracked and start to follow the curves of Jeremy’s muscles. Eventually, he got to his destination and gave his ass a squeeze announcing his presence. Jeremy gasped, startled at the sudden movement but went right back into scraping his teeth over Ryan’s lips.   
  
Ryan moved his hands off Jeremy’s ass and tried to undo the buttons on Jeremy’s shirt without looking which were proving to be a more difficult challenge than he would’ve liked it too. Jeremy pulled off his lips and said: “It’ll be quicker if I help.” Ryan let out a low chuckle and started to take the buttons off his shirt. They both threw their shirts on the floor and Jeremy began to kiss Ryan’s neck, leaving marks on purpose. Ryan let out a moan and he felt Jeremy’s hands slowly going down his body making their way towards his growing erection. Thankfully Ryan wasn’t wearing a belt so his pants came off fairly easy. Jeremy’s fingers were lingering over the waistband of his underwear, and as much as he wanted this he turned the tables and took off Jeremy pants since he was just a little bit more experienced.   
  
Ryan moved down the bed a little and spoke: “If anything gets too much just say so and I’ll stop.” Jeremy nodded and Ryan got on his knees and started kissing Jeremy’s thighs while he slowly stroked Jeremy over his underwear. “Fuck, Ryan.” Jeremy moaned out as Ryan’s hand dipped under the waistband, grabbing Jeremy’s cock, experimenting with different movements to see what Jeremy liked.   
  
“Ryan, I need you so bad.” Jeremy breathed out. Ryan pulled down Jeremy’s underwear and slid his tongue from the underside of his shaft to the head. Ryan’s eyes look up to see that Jeremy had his eyes closed, in what he could only imagine as pure bliss. Ryan’s tongue swirled over Jeremy’s slit making him squirm moaning loudly.   
  
Ryan started to bob his head up and down in order to take more of Jeremy as he could while using his hands for anything he couldn’t fit. Ryan felt Jeremy’s hands tangle themselves in his hair, twisting and pulling as Ryan worked harder taking more of him. Ryan kept going until his body forced him to pull away for air. Streams of spit connected Ryan’s reddened lips to Jeremy’s dick.   
  
Ryan put his mouth back on Jeremy’s length and continued from where he left off, while Jeremy put his hands back in Ryan’s hair and pulled Ryan closer to him. It only took a few more pumps before Ryan heard Jeremy “I’m close…” When he heard those words Ryan keeps going faster as he hears Jeremy’s moans getting louder, he cums. Ryan swallowed and removes his mouth, lips glistening with a mixture of saliva and cum.   
  
He moved back onto the bed next to Jeremy who was coming down from his orgasm. He turns to face Ryan and tries to speak “Fuck. Ryan.” Ryan just smiled and followed Jeremy’s eyes downward as he’s looking at Ryan’s underwear which must’ve slipped down, revealing a sneak peak of Ryan’s dick.   
  
“Jeremy, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Ryan said politely. “But I want to.” Jeremy said lustfully. Ryan watched as Jeremy got down on his knees and placed his lips over Ryan’s head. Slowly Jeremy started to try and replicate what Ryan had just done to him while being mindful of his teeth.   
  
After a while Jeremy got comfortable and started to faster, making Ryan’s moans louder and continuous. Ryan was breathing harder and harder as Jeremy kept going. Ryan’s hands took a place in his hair and either intentionally or accidentally Jeremy's tongue moved across the underside of his dick and that was about to send Ryan over the edge.   
  
“Jer, Jeremy I’m gonna…” Was all Ryan could get out before Jeremy’s mouth kept the same speed while his hand went faster. A few more pumps were all Ryan could take before he came. He looked down at Jeremy who’s cheeks were full of Ryan’s load, it took him a minute but he eventually swallowed and joined Ryan on the bed, cuddling up next to him.   
  
“We should do that again sometime.” Jeremy said into Ryan’s side as he got his phone off the nightstand and texted his mom to let her know that he was spending the night.   
  
“We should.” Ryan said as he looked over to Jeremy who had already fallen asleep.   
  
“Night Jeremy.” Ryan said quietly as he kissed his forehead, not minding the sweat and hair that was stuck to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also, that was my first time writing smut which proved harder than I thought it was.  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day! ~Kate (:


	13. Let's Go to the Mall, Today!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hope it hasn't been too long but I was busy with getting through the last bits of school and making sure I actually graduate but now that's all said and done with so hopefully, I'll have more time to write! Also just a little warning there's a little bit of homophobic language towards the end of the chapter. With that aside, hope you enjoy the chapter!

Ryan’s eyes opened the next morning when the sun’s rays came in through Jeremy’s light colored curtains. Ryan tried to lift his arms to stretch but when he saw that only his left one was able to move, he looked down to notice Jeremy was curled up around it like it was a teddy bear. Ryan decided to leave the younger boy for a while longer as he picked his phone off the nightstand.  
  
Ryan was playing some game on it and was trying his best not to move but Ryan had failed his only goal when Jeremy woke up next to him. He sat up slowly and put his face against Ryan’s arm.  
  
Ryan looked over at him and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Jeremy’s hair was messy, with a mixture of green and brown spikes sticking up in various directions. The sandy blonde color of his eyes sparked from the way the sunlight hit his face. It was kind of hard to see but there was a slight blush on Jeremy’s cheeks that made Ryan smile. Of course, Ryan had to stare at Jeremy’s shirtless body and let’s just say that being on the gymnastics team was doing no harm to Jeremy’s figure.  
  
“Morning Rye.” Jeremy’s mumbled voice stopped Ryan’s staring as he went to kiss the top of his head. “Morning.” Ryan said as he put his phone back down on the nightstand. “So last night…” Ryan began to say before Jeremy interrupted him by saying: “Was fucking amazing.” Ryan laughed and asked, “Anything you want to do today?” Jeremy thought for a minute before answering “Wanna go to the mall?” “Yeah, but do you want to have breakfast here or go out and get something?” Ryan replied. “Let’s go out and eat.” Jeremy said as he was getting out of the bed. Ryan got out of the bed and picked up clothes from last night and put them back on as Jeremy changed on the other side of the room. “We’re going to have to make a stop back at my house so I can grab some fresh clothes.” Ryan said as Jeremy nodded and they went to Ryan’s car.  
  
The drive back may have involved some speeding but that was only because Ryan was hungry. When they got back to Ryan’s house, they quickly greeted his mom as Ryan got changed at the speed of light because nothing is gonna get between Ryan and a nice breakfast with his boyfriend. When he came back downstairs, Ryan told his mom where they were going and she gave him some money and luckily for him, she either didn’t notice or just didn’t question the very prominent hickeys on his neck.  
  
Thanking the fact that he avoided the awkward topic with his mother, the two were quickly out the door and into Ryan’s car. When the radio came on the song Don’t You Want Me Baby came on which started with them replacing all of the other words in the song with “You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar.” and very quickly turned into both Jeremy and Ryan screaming “WORKING AS A WAITRESS IN A COCKTAIL BAAAAR!!!!” The song ended just as Ryan was pulling into the parking lot of a small diner named The Waffle. They both got out of the car and walked to the entrance of the diner holding hands.  
  
When they walked through the door they stood at the front counter while they waited for someone to come seat them. Ryan was looking down at his phone when he heard Jeremy tell someone that they wanted a table for two. Ryan put his phone back into his pocket as the hostess led them to their booth.  
  
As soon as Ryan sat down in the booth, the cushion of the booth began to sink down a bit, like more than it normally would, but Ryan just laughed to himself as he opened up the menu. “Have you ever been here before?” Jeremy asked just to make conversation. “I’m pretty sure I went here with Jack a few times.” Ryan said flipping through his menu. “Well, I should probably get a waffle right? Since the place is named after them.” Jeremy said when he got to the part of the menu with all the different kinds of waffles. “You don’t have to, but one time Michael got a burger here and Jack got mad at him for not ordering a waffle.” Ryan said laughing and Jeremy laughed too.  
  
Eventually, a waiter came to their table. “Hi my name is Josh and I’ll be your waiter. Sorry for the wait. Can I start you off with any drinks?” “I’ll just have a water please.” Ryan said as Jeremy told him that he’ll also have a water. “Are you guys ready to order or do you want a few minutes?” Josh said with his pen in hand, ready to write down whatever the two boys were going to have. Ryan looked over at Jeremy, “Well I’m ready if you are.” Ryan said as he closed his menu. “I’m stuck between two things so you go first.” Jeremy smiled at him. “Can I have a get a cinnamon bun waffle please.” Ryan said politely as Josh scribbled it down. “Um, I’ll get an omelette with cheese and spinach and a waffle on the side please.” Jeremy said as he handed his and Ryan’s menus to Josh who walked away before telling them that their waters would be there soon.  
  
“You didn’t have to get a waffle if you didn’t want to.” Ryan said. “Yeah, I know but you know Jack would’ve gotten internally mad and not have known why.” Jeremy laughed and said: “Plus I wanted one anyways.” Ryan smiled and let his curiosity get the best of him by asking: “Just wondering but why’d you want to go to the mall anyways?” “Not really sure, it was just the first place that popped into my mind.” Jeremy said taking a sip of the water that had just arrived. Ryan nodded and continued making small talk until the food came.  
  
Josh came back with three plates one with Ryan’s waffle, one with Jeremy’s omelette, and a small one with the waffle Jeremy had ordered. They both thanked the waiter and started to eat. Ryan knew he was hungry but he didn’t know how hungry he was until a hot waffle filled with cinnamon and sugar was placed in front of him, so he just started to eat like his life depended on it. He stopped when he heard Jeremy laughing at him, Ryan looked up at the boy in confusion. “Jesus Rye slow down! That waffle isn’t going anywhere.” Ryan blushed and let out a small chuckle, clearly unaware about how fast he was actually eating.  
  
Since Ryan was done with his food first, instead of staring at Jeremy while he ate he decided to do the next thing which was taking small bits of Jeremy’s untouched waffle and dip them in the leftover filling and syrup that was on Ryan’s plate. Ryan was only able to get about 5 pieces of waffle before Jeremy noticed. “Ryan! How could you do this? I was looking forward to that waffle!” Jeremy said over dramatically, making both of them laugh.  
  
A little bit later, Jeremy finished his food and they were ready for the check. “Hey if the waiter comes ask for the check, I’m gonna head to the bathroom before we go to the mall.” Ryan said as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket and placed his card down on the table. Jeremy nodded and Ryan went to use the bathroom. A few minutes later Ryan came out and started to laugh when he heard the beginning of a Don’t You Want Me Baby. He walked over to Jeremy who was standing in the front of the diner and smirking. Ryan noticed the jukebox next to him and asked: “Did you really just put this on?” Jeremy let out a very convincing maybe and the two were off to Ryan’s car and headed for the mall.  
  
The drive was relatively quick and luckily Ryan was able to find a spot that was pretty close to the front of the mall. They both left the car and entered the mall where they started to wander aimlessly, not really knowing where either of them wanted to go until they walked by an art store. “Wanna go in?” Jeremy asked Ryan. Ryan nodded his head and they walked in.  
  
Jeremy led the way and Ryan happily followed, seeing Jeremy’s face lit up by the various supplies and answering any questions that Ryan had. Somehow while they were walking Ryan got separated from Jeremy and was now looking through all the aisles looking for him. While looking through the different departments, Ryan saw someone familiar, he decided to scare him cause it would be funny. Ryan quietly walked behind them and suddenly placed his hands on his shoulders and shouted: “Boo!” They screamed and turned around to see who did that and when they were greeted by Ryan’s smiling face the expression on their face went from angry to slightly annoyed. “Ryan what the fuck.” “Sorry, Geoff I had to.” Ryan said sarcastically giving his friend a hug. When Geoff pulled away he immediately saw the hickeys on Ryan’s neck and Geoff’s face lit up. “Damn dude seems like you and Jeremy had quite a bit of fun last night. Did you guys do it?” Geoff asked and Ryan didn’t say anything because any sort of denial would be disregarded because of how heavy he was blushing and smiling a tiny bit.  
  
“Look just don’t make a big deal out of it, at least in front of Jeremy.” Ryan said as he followed Geoff who started to walk up and down the aisle. “So where is Jeremy anyways?” Geoff questioned. “I somehow lost him and while looking for him I found you.” Ryan answered before asking “Why are you here then?” “Griffon’s birthday is coming up soon and I was looking for something to get her.” Geoff said while putting back what he was looking at. “I’m probably just gonna go on Amazon and get her something. Let’s go find Jeremy.” Geoff continued as they went through the store looking for Jeremy.  
  
They finally found him looking at a whole bunch of different ink pens and Jeremy greeted Geoff with a smile. When the two were done catching up, Jeremy went to the line and bought a few different pens.  
  
As they were leaving the store, Jeremy invited Geoff to keep hanging with them and Geoff agreed because he didn’t have anything else better to do. The three of them kept walking around the mall, not really shopping through any stores but just enjoying the atmosphere of the mall. They were having a nice time until Ryan saw someone that he really did not to see walking in the general area. “Damn it. Why does he have to be here?” Ryan muttered angrily under his breath. “Who?” Jeremy asked quietly. “Austin and his little group. We used to have pretty much the same classes freshman and sophomore year, and they bullied me for pretty much everything.” Ryan explained quietly hoping that Austin and his friends would not notice them.  
  
Ryan, Geoff, Jeremy were just about to turn around and try to avoid them when Ryan heard Austin shout “Haywood! Long time no see!” as he was walking towards them. Ryan rolled his eyes and just wanted to be anywhere but here. “Hey, Austin.” Ryan said in a less than pleased voice. Of course, he instantly spotted the marks across Ryan’s neck and turned around to his friends to start the bullying “Guys look, the school’s fag found another freak like him.” Austin turned back to them and started to walk towards Jeremy “We heard that a new kid came to town but what we didn’t hear was that he was a literally a little gay boy.” After some more tormenting and calling both Jeremy and him pretty much every slur in the book, Ryan decided that he had finally had enough and punched Austin square across the face. Everyone stood in shock speechless, nobody knew that Ryan had something like that in him, hell Ryan didn’t even know that he had something like that in him. “Haywood, when you come to school on Monday you’re dead.” Austin said through his bloody nose. Ryan looked down at his hand to see his knuckles were red.  
  
Jeremy had pulled Ryan in for a kiss on the lips. “Ryan that was so fucking hot you have no idea.” Jeremy whispered to him as they pulled apart. Ryan blushed, and said, “Can we get some ice or something because my hand really hurts.” “Ryan that was cool as dicks!” Geoff exclaimed as they walked to the food court. After thanking the kind people at the first drink stand they saw, for the ice Ryan decided that he needed to go home and for a little bit to give his hand a break.  
  
Jeremy and Ryan said goodbye to Geoff and they started walking to Ryan’s car. While they were driving to Jeremy’s house to drop him off, Jeremy was carefully holding Ryan’s injured hand. The ride back was nice and peaceful, when Ryan pulled up to Jeremy’s house he gave him a kiss on the lips and made sure he was able to get inside before driving away.  
  
Ryan drove home as legally fast as he could because right now all he wanted to do was lay down and maybe take a nap. After 5 minutes, Ryan pulled into his driveway and walked inside his house where he made a beeline to the freezer to get an ice pack, which his mom noticed. “Ryan, honey what happened to your hand?” His mother asked in a worried tone while looking at his hand to make sure nothing looked out of place. “I stood up for myself which involved punching a kid in the nose.” Ryan said calmly. “Ryan I’m glad you stood up for yourself but violence isn’t always the answer.” She said in a stern tone. “I know, but this kid really deserved it.” Ryan said with more empathy in his voice while his mother sighed and shooed him off to his room.  
  
Ryan went up the stairs and decided that the best thing he needed right now was a nice long nap. So he turned off the lights, laid in his bed, and shut his eyes to go to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh damn, look at Ryan protecting people who talk shit about him or his man.  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day ~Kate (:


	14. Ryan the Task Guy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is super early this week because my prom and graduation are this week! Hope you guys are having a great summer so far and enjoy this chapter!

Ryan woke up in the dark, which was a little startling, to say the least. He picked his phone off of the table next to him and even though his phone was on a low brightness it still blinded him for a moment. 

After he adjusted his eyes to the brightness he saw that it was a little past 3 in the morning. He also saw that he had quite a few texts. 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 3:14 pm**

“Hey, how’s your hand? Text me when you wake up from your nap.”

“Well, it might’ve been a little late for that.” Ryan thought to himself as he checked his phone for any other messages. 

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 3:30 pm**

“So Ryan might die on Monday.”

Ryan rolled his eyes at the text, it was good to know that Geoff had complete faith in him. 

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 3:30 pm**

“Thanks, Geoff that’s really reassuring to hear. I’m sure Ryan will be able to handle himself.”

**[Dickheads] From: Jack Pattillo 3:35 pm**

“What’s going on?”

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 3:35 pm**

“Ryan, Geoff, and I were at the mall when this Austin kid and a few other kids came up and Austin started to bully Ryan so Ryan punched him in the face and then he told Ryan that he was gonna be dead on Monday. But he can’t be serious right?”

**[Dickheads] From: Jack Pattillo 3:36 pm**

“Austin! As in Austin Fields, captain of the soccer and basketball team.”

**[Dickheads] From: Geoff Ramsey 3:36 pm**

“Yep.”

**[Dickheads] From: Michael Jones 3:50 pm**

“I’ll start the funeral preparations.”

Ryan was glad that his friends had the utmost faith in him.

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 3:51 pm**

“Guys it really can’t be this bad right? Can it?!”

**[Dickheads] From: Gavin Free 3:52 pm**

“When I first moved here Austin was a right prick to me, he and his friends would beat me up a few days out of the week. Eventually, it stopped when Geoff, Jack, and Michael stepped in but ever since he’s sorta been out to get our group.” 

**[Dickheads] From: Jack Pattillo 3:54 pm**

“Where even is Ryan anyway? Not many people get to help plan their own funerals.”

**[Dickheads] From: Jeremy Dooley 4:03 pm**

“Come on, Jack quit it. He’s taking a nap.”

Ryan groaned at the thought of having to deal with Austin and his friends so he shoved the thought into the back of his brain and decided to play something on his Xbox. 

The once dark room was illuminated by the TV. Before Ryan could figure out what game to play Ryan was invited to a party by Meg. Ryan scrambled to find his headset and joined the party. 

“Hey, Rye! What are you doing up so late or early?” Meg’s cheerful voice rang through his headset. “Just woke up from a nap.” Ryan said as he looked for something mindless to play while talking to Meg. He settled on Overwatch, figuring he just play as D.Va and hold down the right trigger. 

He could hear Meg laugh a little before saying “So I feel like I haven’t heard from you all week. How are you and Jeremy?” Even though Ryan was alone he still blushed and was debating on telling Meg the details of Jeremy’s and his hookup. “Things are great!” Ryan said happily. “That’s awesome! You guys should come on a double date with Gav and me sometime!” Meg said. “I’ll talk to Jeremy about it.” 

Meg yawned into the mic before speaking “Alright Rye, I know that this was kinda short but I’m super tired I’ll see ya around if not tomorrow then Monday!” Meg said before signing off leaving Ryan alone in the dark with his thoughts about all the things that Austin could possibly do to him on Monday. 

Sighing loudly and now is pretty much awake, Ryan decided to grab a book off the bookshelf hoping that reading in dim light will put him back to sleep. He went over to the bookshelf and grabbed Ready Player One, he’d read it before but it was a nice read. He walked back to his bed, turned his lamp on to the lowest setting, and started to read. After getting through a good chunk of the book, Ryan’s eyelids were getting heavy again and he turned off his lamp and shut them. 

Ryan wasn’t asleep for long but it was long enough for the sun to be shining brightly through his window. He decided that a shower would wake him up for good so he hopped out of bed and went into the bathroom. While the water was getting hot Ryan looked at his reflection in the mirror, where the green specs had started to lighten. It didn’t look bad but it made him wonder what Jeremy was going to do to his hair next.

Ryan then looked down to his neck where the love bites Jeremy had left seem to be lightening up but only slightly. Hopefully, they’ll be less visible by Monday. 

As steam overcame the mirror he stripped and got into the shower. The hot water stung his bruised hand, but other than that the shower did wake him up. After shampooing and conditioning his hair, Ryan got out and quickly dried his hair before wrapping the towel around his waist. Ryan went back into his room and instead of changing he just sat on his bed in his towel, grabbing his phone to check for any new messages. 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 8:58 am**

“Hey Rye, just making sure that you woke up from your nap and are still alive and everything.” 

Ryan was glad at his boyfriend’s concern and messaged him back right away to make sure the boy didn’t worry. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 9:06 am**

“I’m alive I was just in the shower.” 

**From: Jeremy Dooley 9:06 am**

“Hot.”

Ryan blushed at the message and before he could type out a response a new message from Jeremy was already there.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 9:06 am**

“Wish I could’ve been there to join you. (;” 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 9:07 am**

“Sounds like plans for a future date. (;”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 9:08 am**

“I guess I’ll have to take you up on that offer sometime.” 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 9:08 am**

“(;”

Feeling pleased with those texts he got dressed in some sweatpants and an old shirt and went downstairs to look for something to eat. Not wanting to put that much effort into what he was making Ryan found a box of Pop-Tarts in the pantry and stuck two of them into the toaster. While that was toasting he texted Jeremy.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 9:12 am**

“Doing anything today?”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 9:13 am**

“Got gymnastics practice later today and then I gotta help Trevor and Gavin with a Chemistry project.” 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 9:14 am**

“Well isn’t someone popular. Have fun!”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 9:14 am**

“Thanks, babe!” 

As Ryan put down his phone, the toaster went off and scared him more than it should have. Ryan grabbed his Pop-Tarts out of the toaster and his bruised hand accidentally came into contact with the hot metal of the toaster. “Motherfucker!” Ryan let out as he put the Pop-Tarts on a plate and went over to sink to run his hand over some cold water. 

Ryan dried his hand off and then wrapped it with an ice pack, he sat down and started to eat his breakfast when his phone beeped. 

**From: Meg Turney 9:24 am**

“Hey, you doing today?”

**To: Meg Turney 9:24 am**

“Nah, why?”

**From: Meg Turney 9:25 am**

“Was wondering if you wanna run lines with Lindsay and I today at my house?”

**To: Meg Turney 9:27 am**

“Sounds fun! What time were you thinking?” 

**From: Meg Turney 9:27 am**

“An hour or so work?”

**To: Meg Turney 9:28 am**

“See you then.”   

Ryan put his plate in the sink and had about an hour before he had to leave so he just threw the TV on and looked for something to watch. One of the cable channels was showing The Force Awakens so Ryan left it on and watched it until he had to leave for Meg’s. 

Looking over at the clock about 45 minutes had passed and he should be at least looking for his script at this point so Ryan turned off the TV and went into his room. He grabbed his backpack off the floor and dug through it until he found his script. Before Ryan left he shot his mom a quick text letting her know where he was going to be. 

Ryan got into the car and for good measure, he grabbed the aux cord and plugged his phone in putting on the soundtrack for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. On the drive over to Meg’s, he got through the first 4 songs before he pulled into Meg’s driveway and unplugged his phone. 

Ryan rang her doorbell and cheerful Lindsay greeted him with a hug. “Ryan! Come in!” She said as she stepped aside and Meg came into the living room and had a huge smirk on her face when he eyes went immediately for the hickeys on Ryan’s neck. “Rye seems like you and Jeremy are doing a little more than great.” She said as Lindsay came around to see what Meg was making a fuss about. Ryan’s face turned bright red and he put his hand on his neck trying to cover the marks. “At least Jeremy had the decency to do it on a weekend and not right before first period.” Ryan said staring right at Meg as she started to blush and Lindsay snickered. 

“So we should get to those lines.” Lindsay said, trying to move things along. Meg and Ryan both nodded and they sat down on the couches and started to read through their lines. 

About 2 hours had passed and it was nearing lunchtime so Meg called to order a pizza and they started to go through the songs they haven’t covered yet in school. A half an hour later the pizza showed up and they took a break to eat. When the pizza was finished they finished through the last few songs and then afterward they all said their goodbyes and Ryan left. 

The drive home was nice and relatively quick. Ryan pulled into his driveway and walked inside, not knowing what to do with the rest of his day. Ryan walked upstairs to his room hoping something would give him an idea of what to do for the rest of the day. 

When he walked into his room his backpack was open and his math notebook was sticking out. Looking inside, there was some homework that he hadn’t done yet so being the great student Ryan was he did it. 

Sadly, it didn’t take him as long as he expected it to and he was still left with the looming question of what do I do now. Ryan laid in his bed and stared at the ceiling hoping that some sign from the universe would give him something to do. 

After about 5 minutes Ryan was about to give up when his phone started to ring. “The universe has pulled through!” Ryan exclaimed to no one but knew that universe would hear it. 

Ryan saw Jack’s name flash on his screen and answered it. “Hey, Jack! What’s up?” Ryan said with a smile on his face until he heard Jack’s tone. “Ryan! Thank god you answered. I just ended my shift at work and my car is in the shop, do you think you could give me a ride home?” Jack’s voice was upset and a bit tired sounding. “Yeah, of course, I’ll be over there in a bit.” Ryan said getting off his bed and heading downstairs. “Thank you so much, Ryan! I definitely owe you one.” Jack said as he hung up the phone. 

Ryan grabbed his keys and started to drive to the supermarket where Jack worked. The drive through town was a bit annoying since people driving in town pretty much sucked no matter the time or day. 

He finally got to the parking lot of the supermarket where he saw Jack in uniform sitting on the edge of a flower pot. Ryan rolled down the passenger window and yelled to Jack “Jack! Get in!” Jack looked up and walked towards the car and got in. 

“Damn Ryan looks like you’ve had a bit of fun.” Jack giggled as he saw Ryan’s neck. Ryan rolled his eyes and started to drive Jack home. “I’m glad you answered. I called my parents but they are out of town, Caiti doesn’t have a car, Geoff didn’t answer, and I figured you and Jeremy would be doing something.” Jack said. “Jeremy’s doing a chemistry project with Gavin and Trevor.” Jack nodded and the rest of the car ride was just little bits of small talk. 

“So you ready for tomorrow?” Jack asked curiously. Ryan was pretty sure his face lost any color it had. He really didn’t want to think of what was going to happen to him at school tomorrow. “As ready as I’ll ever be I guess. I mean he’s probably gonna beat me up, he’s done it before so how bad can it be?” Ryan said trying to sound like he wasn’t at all worried when he actually was. “That’s the spirit, Ryan!” Jack exclaimed and thankfully changing the subject to a new game that was coming out. 

Ryan dropped him off at his house where Jack thanked him once again for giving him a ride home. Ryan turned off the radio and drove home in silence, just wanting to get home quickly so he could just throw on a movie or something. 

When Ryan got home he quickly went upstairs to his room and put the TV on going through the channels looking for anything to take his mind off of going to school tomorrow. While he was scrolling through the channels Ryan found a marathon of Mountain Monsters and lets it play. 

Ryan didn’t know how long he had been watching the show but he could see how Michael just goes on about it. It was nice just the show until he had eventually fallen asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, what's gonna happen to Ryan when he gets to school on Monday?  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day! ~Kate (:


	15. You Hit Me Once I Hit You Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Ya girl is officially graduated! Here's a chapter to celebrate I hope you like it!

Ryan woke up to alarm the next morning and just lied in bed for a while, contemplating whether or not he should even get up or just stay home. Ryan figures that he can’t stay home because he knows that whatever would’ve happened today is just going to be worse tomorrow. 

He finally gets out of bed and gets in the shower, doing everything as quick as possible which will hopefully make the day go faster. Ryan gets out of the shower in record time and puts on just a regular old t-shirt and jeans, because why should he look nice for Austin. Ryan grabbed his backpack and began to go downstairs, grabbing some cereal and putting it and some milk in a bowl. Ryan quickly ate then went to his car and began to drive to school.

On the drive to school, Ryan thought more and more about when Austin would be able to beat him since they didn’t have any classes together. Hopefully, it would be before school so it would be done with. Ryan would much rather spend all day dealing with the pain then spend the day wondering when it was going to happen.

Ryan parked his car and walked into the building and went to his locker. He was greeted by Miles and as they were talking Ryan would look around every so often to see if Austin was coming for him.

Their conversation was cut short by the warning bell ringing and when Miles left Ryan basically ran to the Marine Ecology classroom. When he walked through the door he saw Michael and Gavin sitting at the table having a very animated conversation about something. They both stopped talking and turned to face the taller boy. “Well look who's not dead yet!” Michael said chuckling earning a small laugh from Gavin and an eye roll from Ryan. “Look I don’t want to think about it alright.” Ryan said bluntly to make sure to get the point across. The other two boys understood the messages and went back to their argument about flipping coins, to which Ryan had now joined in on and it was starting to get pretty intense.  

Jeremy strolled in about 2 minutes later at the climax of the argument, taking his seat next to Ryan. “What are we talking about?” Jeremy said while taking a red bull out of his bag. “They're talking about flipping coins and math.” Michael said with a defeated look on his face. “Jeremy! Jeremy! You have three coins-” Gavin started to say before he was cut off by Ryan “No! You are not bringing him in on this! Just give up already Gavin!” Jeremy had no idea what the argument was fully about but he was having a great time listening to his boyfriend get so passionate about something so trivial as this. 

When the two of them were done arguing they started talking about what happened in shows that were on the night before. Eventually, the period ended and Ryan and Jeremy got up to take their usual walk up to second period history. Ryan looked over at Jeremy who seemed like he kept trying to say something but no words were coming out of his mouth. “Anything you wanna ask me Lil’ J?” Ryan asked trying to help him out. “Ye… Yeah” Jeremy stuttered out as his face turned red and he took a breath before saying “After school, tomorrow wanna come over for dinner? My parents want to meet you.” “I would love to!” Ryan replied with a sweet voice. Jeremy looked up at him and smiled making Ryan smile as well. 

They kept their conversation going for a little bit longer until they reached their respective classrooms. Ryan gave Jeremy a quick peck before going into his classroom where he sat in the back and took out his folder to get his note packet and prepare for the boring period of taking notes. 

Ryan couldn’t focus on what his teacher was saying because all Ryan could think about was Austin. His mind was replaying all the previous times Austin had beat him up. Ryan was getting really freaked out by just thinking about it, he needed a breather. He raised his hand and when his teacher called on him Ryan asked: “Can I get a drink of water please?” His teacher nodded his head and Ryan tried his best to calmly walk out the door when all he wanted to was run out of there. Ryan reached the water fountain and took a pretty big drink before heading back to class. 

When Ryan sat back in his chair he felt a lot better and was ready to focus on his note taking properly. Just as they were almost done filling out the packet, the bell rang and Ryan was the first one out the door and pulled out his phone while he waited for Jeremy to come out of his classroom. His gaze was taken away from his phone when he felt something poke his side. Ryan looked over at his side and saw Jeremy with a little smirk on his face. “Hey, Rye! Ready for third period?” Jeremy asked as they started to walk and Ryan shook his head yes. Their walk was mostly silent but it was nice to just listen to what everyone else around them was talking about and laughing when they heard something bizarre out of context. 

When they reached the classroom only Geoff was sitting in his chair. “Where’s Jack? He was here this morning?” Jeremy curiously asked. “In the library working on a project last minute.” Geoff answered. “Doing a project last minute? Doesn’t sound like Jack at all.” Ryan said. “Well, he got stuck with a shit partner who didn’t do anything. So I told him to put By: Jack Pattillo and Kevin Price (But Mostly Jack) on it.” Geoff said with a smirk and the other boys laughed. The rest of forensics was pretty boring and Ryan may have fallen asleep without realizing it until Jeremy was shaking his shoulder and “Ryan wake up before Geoff draws on your face.” Ryan sat up and was pretty out of it “Oh I fell asleep, my bad.” Geoff laughed and Jeremy just smiled at him. Then the bell rang and everyone started to get up. “No announcements?” Ryan said with a hint of sleep still in his voice. “Slept right through em buddy.” Jeremy said as he waited for Ryan to get out of his desk. 

They went their separate ways and Ryan really wasn’t looking forward to math. But still, he got to the room as quick as possible to avoid any chances of running into Austin. Ryan walked into the class and took his seat, he reached into his backpack and grabbed his math notebook out, looking for a clean page to flip to. When the teacher started to go over the lesson Ryan knew instantly that he had no interest to pay attention to what she was saying so instead he drew blob shapes and gave them faces. He wasn’t an artist like Jeremy but he was entertained and liked how they came out. Ryan even drew one and made it look like Jeremy and wished he had a green pen to color in the bit for his hair but no big deal the period was pretty much over anyways. 

The bell rang and Ryan internally groaned about the fact that he would have to go to gym but at least the day was almost over and he hasn’t gotten beaten up yet. Ryan walked into the locker room to get changed. He changed fairly quickly and when he walked out to go to the gym he saw a sign on the door telling him his teacher wasn’t here but they were going to be playing dodgeball. He didn’t mind but he felt bad about hitting girls he didn’t know that well with a red rubber ball so he usually looked like he was trying but then would take the hit and sit out. 

When he got into the gym he saw the substitute walking out of the office with a clipboard so he told him his name so he could mark him as here and then took a seat on the bleachers until everyone else came out. As Ryan was staring around the room waiting for the class to start he heard someone talking to the gym sub. “I heard that you were doing dodgeball with your class and since we have study hall we were wondering if we could play just for today?” That voice sounded too much like Austin’s for Ryan’s liking so he quickly turned to see that it was Austin and Ryan felt like he was going to throw up on the spot. “No! Please for the love of God say no!” Ryan internally screamed and didn’t hear what the sub but he saw them leave the gym so maybe they weren’t allowed to stay. Ryan took a breath of relief and continued to look around the room.

But Ryan’s relief was a bit too soon when he heard footsteps coming to where he was sitting and spoke to him “Hey Ryan! What a coincidence that you have gym the same period and day that we have a study hall!” Austin said and Ryan looked at his face to see that his nose was still a bit swollen and Ryan had never wanted to hide more in his life. “Yeah what a small world we live in.” Ryan said just wanting to wake up from this awful nightmare. “And would you look at that we’re playing dodgeball.” Austin said while taking hold of Ryan’s head and facing him towards the gym sub who was wheeling out a cart of red rubber balls that soon Ryan’s face would know the feeling of. Ryan was speechless so he just did his best to nod while in Austin’s grip. 

Finally, Ryan’s head was released when the sub spoke out “Alright so we are playing dodgeball and you guys are going to make teams. Just make sure there are two captains and each team has an even number of people. Tell me when you’re ready to start.” The sub left to get more balls and Austin was picked to be captain and a girl who was friends with him was the other captain. Austin let her pick first and she picked Ryan immediately, this was the first and probably only time that he wasn’t happy to be picked first. While the captains were picking everyone was whispering something to each other,  Ryan was too nervous about the beating he knew he was about to receive but he assumed it was everyone telling them to let Austin beat him with dodgeballs.   

Eventually, the teams were picked and the game was started and almost instantly everyone on Ryan’s team was out, because of them lighting touching balls that were going nowhere near them. Ryan grabbed a ball lying on the ground and held it close to him to use as a shield. He saw that Austin and one of his friends were each aiming a ball at him so Ryan just accepted that he was going to get hit by one of them so he did his best to block the one coming at his face while that did work he still got nailed in the stomach by the second one, knocking the wind out of him. 

When that first game was over Ryan let the air come back to his system while everyone else lines up the balls back in the middle of the court. The beginning of the next game started out the same as the first one but this time he didn’t have a ball to protect himself with so when Austin caught him off guard and hurled one at his face Ryan had no time to react and the ball came in contact with his cheek. Ryan put his hand up to his face and could already feel the mark beginning to take form. The next few games had very similar results the only difference between them is where Ryan got hit by the balls and sometimes it wasn’t Austin who had hit him but one of his friends. 

They were about to start another game when the bell for getting changed saved him and Ryan used all his energy and went down to the locker room to change. Ryan heard people come down the stairs and he quickly tried to enter the combination on his gym lock to get into his clothes. When he finally got it open he quickly stripped and threw on his regular clothes. Ryan locked his locker and started to walk to the stairs when he felt someone hold his arms behind his back. “You didn’t think we were gonna let you get off that lightly did you faggot.” Austin hissed at him as his fist came in contact with Ryan’s nose. Ryan felt the wet drip of blood go down his face. Of course, Austin couldn’t stop there so the next hit came from the opposite direction at Ryan’s eye and Ryan could feel the impact from Austin’s knuckles on his temple making it painful to blink. Just in case that wasn’t enough to get the point across Austin also punch him in the mouth, causing Ryan to bite down making the inside of his lip bleed and his mouth started to fill up with blood. Ryan spit the contents of his mouth at the floor as Austin decided he was finished and let his friends take a few shots at Ryan’s stomach. 

When they were finally finished the warning bell rang telling them that they only had a minute to get to class. So Ryan started to go up the stairs as quickly as possible and went straight for the nurse. When Ryan walked into the nurse's office she was turned around in her chair and Ryan went to the sink to spit out some blood that pooled up in his mouth before he let out a soft “Excuse me.” When she spun around to look at him she looked horrified. “Oh my God! What happened to you? Let me get you some ice!” Ryan put his backpack down on the floor by a chair and walked back to the sink to spit the last of the blood in his mouth. “Gym incident. We played dodgeball.” Ryan said softly as took a seat by his bag. “With what? Bricks.” She said sarcastically and Ryan quietly laughed at her joke.

“Here, put this over your eye and stick these up your nose.” Ryan nodded as she gave him the ice pack and tissues. Ryan dug through his backpack to find where he had put his phone, when he found it he texted Jeremy. 

**To: Jeremy Dooley 11:20 am**

“Hey, not gonna be in Criminal Justice. At the nurse’s office.

Ryan put his phone down and closed his eyes and moved the ice pack from his eye to his mouth when it got too cold. He stayed like that for a bit, taking in the quiet atmosphere of the nurse’s office. Ryan’s eyes opened when he heard the door open to see a panting Jeremy standing in the doorway holding his knee. “Jesus Ryan! What happened to you?” Jeremy said in between breaths as he took a seat next to his boyfriend. “Looks like gym was the perfect time for Austin to beat me up.” Ryan said quietly so the nurse wouldn’t hear, the last thing Ryan needed was for Austin to hear he snitched. “What happened to you? Why are you holding your knee like that?” Ryan asked concerned. “I saw your text and ran to come here and I might’ve fallen down the stairs on my knee.” Jeremy answered, “Excuse me can I get an ice pack please.” Jeremy asked the nurse as she nodded and handed him one. Jeremy thanked her and the two of them stayed in the nurse’s office until the bell rang for them to go into lunch. Before they left Ryan got a new ice pack and some new tissues for his nose. When they were ready to leave they both thanked her again and Jeremy took Ryan’s backpack since Ryan was busy holding up the ice pack to his face. “Jeremy you really don’t have to do that. Also, where is your bag?” Ryan said as they walked out of the office and headed to lunch. “It’s okay I want to. And I asked Jack to bring it to lunch.” Ryan smiled wondering how he could end up with someone as sweet as Jeremy. 

The couple was the last two to come into lunch so Jeremy dropped Ryan’s bag where he usually sat and went over to Jack to grab his bag. “Fuck Ryan! Did Austin do that?” Meg and Lindsay both asked with faces full of concern. “Yep. In the boy's locker room. So Geoff, when you go in there the little pile of blood on the floor, is mine.” Ryan gave him a small smile. “Meg, can you tell Mr. Heyman that I can’t come to play practice today I think I’m just gonna dip after next period.” He asked her. “Rye didn’t you hear the announcement, there’s no play practice because Mr. Heyman has something to do after school that’s really important.” Meg said before taking a bite of her lunch. “No, I didn’t because someone didn’t tell me the announcements when I unknowingly slept through this morning.” Ryan said with a fake anger and looking directly at Jeremy. Everyone laughed and Ryan didn’t really say much after that just laying on Jeremy and listening to everyone else talk about their day so far. 

The bell rang and Ryan was excited to go to English because he knew that he could just spend the whole period sleeping and then just go home afterward. Ryan was walked up the stairs to English and when his teacher saw him she had the same reaction as everyone else, asking if he was okay and all that. Ryan told her the gist of what happened and then went to sit in his seat. Ryan liked his English teacher he was glad that she put in enough of an effort to care about her students it made Ryan feel almost a little bad for sleeping in her class as much as he did but fuck it after the day he’s had he really needed this nap. Ryan was asleep almost instantly and was woken up by Larry when the period was over. Ryan thanked him for waking him up and went to his locker to grab everything he needed to go home. 

When Ryan was sure he had everything he went to the front desk and signed himself out and went to his car. Ryan drove home slower than he normally would but since he could feel one of his eyes beginning to swell shut he wanted to make sure to be extra careful. Ryan got home safe and sound and when he walked in the front door his mother greeted him. “Hey Ryan, you’re home early. How was school?” She asked while putting groceries away. “It could’ve been better. Hey, can you pass me the frozen vegetables.” Ryan’s mom finished and turned around to hand him the frozen veggies her expression changed from a sweet one to a deeply concerned one. “Ryan! What happened? Are you alright?” She said as she rushed him on the couch and told him to lay down. “Yeah, mom I’m fine. Just had a bad day in gym.” Ryan put the cold bag over his eye and turned the TV on and lowered the volume. His mom came back with a glass of cold water and Ryan thanked her while watching the almost silent cartoon run around the screen.  Ryan decided that since one of his eyes was pretty much swollen shut at this point, there was no point in stressing the muscles to keep his eyes open and Ryan closed his eyes taking in the silence of the room and the subtle noises coming from the outside world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My poor sweet baby Ryan. I felt bad for hurting the poor boy but then I started writing it and couldn't stop.   
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day! ~Kate (:


	16. Cuddles Are Nice!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been so long since I've updated this past week has been super busy! But to make it up to ya I got 2 new chapter for ya non-color changing eyes.

Ryan woke up when he felt something nudging him. He opened his eyes and shut them immediately due to the sudden change in light. Ryan opened his eyes again but this time slower. Ryan sat up and looked around the room to see where the nudging was coming from, looking to his left he saw Jeremy tapping away on his phone. “Hey.” Ryan said quietly. “Hey Rye, how’s your face?” Jeremy said as he put his phone on the table. “Still hurts but it’s a bit better now. Why are you here though? No offense.” Jeremy smiled and got up to sit closer to Ryan “None taken” He laughed a little then continued “I missed you and wanted to make sure you were okay.” Ryan smiled kissed his boyfriend on the cheek before the sound of his phone going off caused his eyes made their way down the coffee table. Ryan saw a Tupperware container and his phone. 

Ryan picked up his and quickly glanced at his lock screen to see that there were texts from Jeremy telling him that he was coming over and one from his mom telling him that she had to run into work. Ryan put his phone down and glanced at the mysterious Tupperware once more. Ryan asked picked up the container to try and get a better look but the cloudy texture of the container blocked him from looking through the side and a piece of paper covered his view from the lid of the container. “What’s in here?” He asked giving up on trying to figure it out himself “Oh, well I-I made you some cookies before I came.” Jeremy blushed and Ryan smiled and ruffled his hair. “Awe you’re too sweet.” Ryan replied opening up the container to see that Jeremy had filled it to the brim with different types of cookies. 

On the lid of the container was a piece of paper telling him what kind of cookies there were. “Well you certainly know the way to my heart, don’t you?” Ryan said laughing and Jeremy smiled “It’s that much of a secret.” Jeremy replied sarcastically and got off the couch “I’m gonna grab some plates and a glass of milk. Want one?” Jeremy said walking away from him. “Yes, please and can you get me another ice pack?” Jeremy didn’t answer but instead came back with a plate a new ice pack and took the unfrozen bag of veggies and going back in the kitchen to throw them back in the freezer. Jeremy came back with both glasses of milk and Ryan grabbed a black and white cookie from the container and took a bite from the vanilla side. He looked over to Jeremy “Jer, these are so good! How have I not had these before?!” Ryan said excitedly and spun the cookie around to have a bite of the chocolate side and is just as happy with the results. “They’re big on the east coast, especially in New York. I learned how to make em so I could always have a little piece of home with me.” Jeremy explained as he grabbed a chocolate chip cookie from the container and dunked it in his glass of milk.

Ryan smiled as he looked at Jeremy being cute and dug around where he was sitting to get the remote and was too lazy and didn’t really care what was on he just wanted to cuddle with Jeremy and eat cookies, so he just turned up the volume a little bit on the show that he was watching when he fell asleep and scooted closer to Jeremy who leaned his head against Ryan’s arm. The feeling of Jeremy’s stubble felt nice against his arm. Ryan dusted cookie crumbs off his hand and started to play with Jeremy’s hair. He heard Jeremy let out a satisfied sigh and smiled he also grabbed another cookie. 

Once at least one of every cookie was gone Ryan put the lid back on the Tupperware and pushed it further away from them on the coffee table “I could eat all of these and kind of want to but I should share these with the gang tomorrow.” Ryan explained and Jeremy nodded, not really caring about the reason but was just happy with the position he was in. Also, Jeremy had stopped eating them a while ago. 

“So about tomorrow…” Jeremy started to say before he stopped, almost like he started to speak without his brain finishing the thought. Ryan turned to him and nodded to show that he was paying attention. “You still want to meet my parents right?” Jeremy finished and Ryan could hear the hint of nervousness in his voice. “Of course I do Jer. I’m sure they are lovely people, I mean they did raise you and you’re kind, funny, compassionate, caring, and so much more. I have no doubt that they’ll be the same way.” Ryan smiled and Jeremy was blushing. “I wonder how they’ll react to all of this though.” Ryan said using his finger to circle around his face. Jeremy laughed a hearty laugh. “They might be a little shocked. Also, you might want to change the story of why it happened.” “Hmm, I’ll think about it. But it should look better by tomorrow.” Ryan smirked and Jeremy’s phone rang. 

“Oh! It’s Jack I should start to get ready to leave, I’ve got a wicked awful paper to write.” Jeremy quickly got off the couch and started to look for his things. “You sure? I could always take you home.” Ryan offered. Jeremy just laughed “With that shiner?!  Honestly Rye I’m surprised you made it home safe.” Ryan rolled his eyes and when they heard Jack’s car pull up Ryan gave Jeremy a quick goodbye kiss and with that Jeremy was out the door. 

Ryan cleaned up the coffee table and headed upstairs to his room. Ryan decided to re-read the parts of the book that he missed during English class today and do whatever questions that went along with those chapters. He really had to push through those questions because Ryan’s head was starting to pound from trying to figure out what the hell the symbolism of Iago’s handkerchief is. When he was finally done Ryan just shut his eyes and dreamt about what meeting Jeremy’s parents would be like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was kinda short and fluffy but the next one is the longest that I've written so far!  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day! (: ~Kate


	17. Meet the Dooleys!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter is the longest out of the bunch! Enjoy all the domestic Jeremwood that one could ever need.

Ryan woke up the next morning and went to the bathroom to check on the state of his face. When he told Jeremy that it would look better tomorrow, he was wrong if anything it looked worse. Black and blue marks around his eye turned a sickly green. On a positive note, the swelling did go down so at least he could see which was a good thing because he had play practice today and that was something that he needed to be able to see out of both eyes for.

Ryan did his usual routine of getting in the shower and which he was rather quick about. When he walked back into his room he bent down, wincing at the pain from the marks on his stomach to find a white t-shirt and put on some dark colored jeans. After he got dressed Ryan checked his phone for any new messages.

**From: Meg Turney 6:37 am**

“You’re coming to play practice today right?!”

**To: Meg Turney 6:43 am**

“Yeah, why?”

**From: Meg Turney 6:43 am**

“Because today is our first dress rehearsal. We're running through the all the dances first.”

**To: Meg Turney 6:45 am**

“Good to know. See ya then (:”

Ryan tucked his phone into his pocket and decided to get an egg sandwich for breakfast. While he was grabbing a Diet Coke out of the fridge his mom came down to grab something from the kitchen. “Morning sweetie. I’ve got a super hectic day at work so feel free to have people over after school.” His mother said sweetly to him. “Actually mom, I was gonna go to Jeremy’s house for dinner.” Ryan said as he got the can and put a sweater on. “That’s so nice! Well have fun and be polite. If anything changes text me.” She said going over to kiss Ryan on the forehead and went to leave for work.

Ryan checked the time and saw that if he didn’t leave now he would be late for first period, not that his teacher would care but some days they were in the library and the librarian was kind of a bitch. Ryan got into his car and drove to the nearest deli where he ordered himself an egg sandwich. While he was waiting for his food his phone buzzed in his pocket.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 7:03 am**

“Hey! You excited for tonight?”

Ryan smiled he knew that Jeremy must be nervous and so this is his way of trying to feel less nervous since Ryan wasn’t there.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 7:03 am**

“Totally! Don’t be nervous, you’re parents will love me. I think you’ve forgotten about my secret weapon.”

Ryan smirked as he hit send and grabbed his food and rushed to his car so he wouldn’t be late. Before he started driving his phone went off in the cup holder.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 7:07 am**

“And what would that be?”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 7:07 am**

“My southern charm of course (;”

Ryan laughed to himself and he started driving but then he got stuck behind an accident and got to school late. Ryan groaned as he pulled into an open spot and threw his breakfast into his backpack and grabbed his phone seeing that Jeremy had texted him.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 7:12 am**

“You’re the worst.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 7:34 am**

“We’re in the library for Marine Eco today.”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 7:35 am**

“Thanks so much be there in a few.”

Ryan sighed loudly as he got out of his car and started walking to the building. The librarian didn’t allow any food in the library, especially in the computer area. But Ryan was so hungry he groaned as he got his late pass from the lady at the front desk, who stared at his face knowing that she was looking at his black eye. He went to his locker to food the food away, knowing that the smell would just make him hungrier before he entered the library.

When he walked into the library, while the librarian gave him the same look as the woman at the front desk did. Ryan saw his class at the computers and gave his teacher the pass and saw where Jeremy was sitting and took the seat he saved next to him.

“Hey, Rye!” Jeremy smiled as he sat but all Ryan did was put his head down at the keyboard. “What’s wrong?” Jeremy’s voice was full of worry. “I’m so hungry and I can eat cause we're in here and my food will be cold by next period.” Ran picked his head up and noticed that Michael and Gavin weren’t anywhere to be found. “Where are the others?” Ryan questioned, he’d feel bad if Jeremy was left all alone first period. “There’s some field trip today. Also just go into the hallway and eat your food, you’re locker is like right there.” Jeremy said as he heard Ryan’s stomach growl. “Alright, I’ll be quick.” Ryan got up and asked the teacher to grab something from his locker, she said yes and he quickly went to his locker and started eating.

He was so relieved to have food in his system, he didn’t realize how fast he was eating. Ryan also didn’t notice the security guard walking towards him. “You can’t just stand in the hallway and eat. What class are you in?” She said sternly. “God the one time the security guards do their job.” he thought to himself. “I’m in Marine Ecology and we’re in the library. I can’t have food in there and I can’t eat it next period.” Ryan said pleading with the woman, all he wanted to do was eat. It’s not like he was disturbing anything. “Fine, I’ll just throw it out.” Ryan said quietly as he finished off his Diet Coke and grabbed his sandwich and headed for the nearest trash bin. Ryan threw out the empty can and shoved the rest of the food into his mouth and walked back to the library.

He took his seat next to Jeremy and finished eating before telling him about what just happened. By the time Ryan was done the warning bell rang and the teacher told them to save their work before logging off the computers.

The bell rang and the two walked to history. Their walk was shorter than normal because the library was right near the stairs that led you to the history hallway. Ryan walked Jeremy to his classroom giving a quick kiss before he went in. Ryan walked a few more steps before reaching his own classroom. Ryan stood at the door and knew that everyone was going to be looking at him. Anytime Austin does anything it makes school news. Ryan took a deep breath and quickly opened the door and hurried to his seat.

Luckily for him, his teacher had a meeting so he took attendance and then a substitute came in and took over for the class. When she walked through the door Ryan saw that it was Ms. Oliva, the sub who calls all the girls gorgeous and the boys “her sweet little cherubs”. Also, she has bright blue eyeshadow and bright pink blush. She handed everyone a packet and Ryan quickly did the packet so he could just chill for the rest of the period. He walked up to the front of the room to give his packet to her and of course, she commented on the state of his face. “What happened to you my cherub?” She said louder than Ryan would’ve liked her too. “Got into a fight.” He muttered just loud enough for her to hear. She nodded her head and took his packet and Ryan quickly walked back to his desk.

He spent the rest of the period playing some game on his phone. Eventually, the bell rang and he rushed to get out of the room to see Jeremy.

“Hey, Rye! Anything fun happen in history?” Jeremy asked taking hold of Ryan’s hand. “Nah, had a sub and did a packet. What about you?” Ryan asked back. “Nothing too exciting. Some kids were talking about you and Austin’s fight.” Jeremy said. “Wasn’t really much of a fight.” Ryan said bluntly. “But I would like it to be known that he needed someone to hold me back.” Ryan smirked and they walked into their forensics class.

They took their seats next to Jack and Geoff and started talking. “Anyone know where Gavin is? That motherfucker owes me 10 bucks because he lost a bet.” Geoff said. “he and Michael are on a field trip. What was the bet?” Jeremy said. “That I wouldn’t get to school early and draw a giant dick on his math teacher’s board.” Geoff said pulling his phone out and showing them a picture. “It was going to be great too! Gavin’s math is the first time his teacher has a class.” Geoff said annoyed. Everyone laughed as the teacher turned off the lights and threw an episode of forensic files on. They kept talking but lowered their volume.

Their conversation stopped when the bell for announcements came on. They listened and when none of them had to do with them they finished up their conversation and the bell rang.

Ryan and Jeremy went their separate ways as Ryan went upstairs to study hall. He signed in and then sat next to Adam. “Hey! What’s up?” Adam said to him as soon as he saw him sit down. “Nothing, just trying to get through the day.  What about you?” Ryan said back nicely. “Same here. Did Austin do that to you?” Adam asked with a hint of concern in his voice. “Yeah.” Ryan said softly. “I’ve been hearing people talk about that all day. I’m sorry that he did that to you dude.” Ryan smiled knowing Adam was genuine with his response. They spent the rest of the period talking about the play until the bell rang. Ryan said his goodbye to Adam as he headed down to math.

When Ryan walked into the room he noticed that nobody was really talking. Looking around the room he saw a man dressed in a suit, meaning that his teacher was getting observed. It also meant that Ryan would actually have to do work for once. He internally sighed to himself as he put his bag down at his desk and went to up to his teacher to get a review packet because apparently, they had a test in a few days. The bell for the class to start went off and his teacher started teaching. Ryan actually paid attention in math for once and took decent notes. About halfway through the period, the teacher called on him “Ryan can you come up to the board and answer question number 12 in the review packet?” Ryan really didn’t want to but he also didn’t want to make his teacher look bad. Since she was being observed, if Ryan got the question completely wrong she wouldn’t yell at him like she normally would.

He went up to the board and thankfully he had been paying attention because he was able to get the question right and explain to the class how he was doing it. “Very good Ryan!” His teacher said. Ryan was pretty sure that that was the first time all year she had told him something nice. The bell rang a little bit after that, ending Ryan’s very productive math period.

Ryan decided to go to his locker before going up the stairs to get to his criminal justice class. Ryan opened up his locker and put in some books that he didn’t need anymore, which made his bag lighter. While he was putting stuff in his locker the bell rang making him officially late for class. He closed his locker door and right as Ryan was just about to go to class he heard a voice that he didn’t want to hear. “Guys look who it is! It’s our new best friend Ryan Haywood!” Austin’s voice was full of a sweet sarcasm that made Ryan sick to his stomach. Ryan knew there was no point in running since he was getting surrounded on all sides “Seems like the queer came back for a second round.” One of the boys next to Austin said as Austin quickly landed a hit on his nose before walking away. It wasn’t that hard of a hit because a security guard was towards them. It was more of the surprise element that made it hurt more.

Either way, Ryan was now very late to class so he ran up the stairs and went to criminal justice. He walked to the door and it was locked, so he knocked and looked through the small window so people knew it was him. Ryan took a breath of relief when he saw Jeremy walk towards the door and open it. “Ryan you’re never late, what happened?” His teacher asked and Ryan didn’t want to snitch on Austin because he knew that it would only make the bullying worse. “I went to my locker then was talking to a friend.” Ryan lied but it wasn’t worse than any future bullying that would happen to him. His teacher nodded and Ryan took his seat.

“Rye, what actually happened? Your face looks worse than it did this morning.” Jeremy asked quietly. Ryan leaned into his group of friends and quietly answered him “I was at my locker and was just about to leave when Austin and some of his friends came up to me and Austin took another swing at my nose.” Ryan saw Jeremy’s face getting angry so he quickly added “It looks a lot worse than it actually is. He didn’t hit me that hard it was more surprising than anything.” Ryan looked over at Jeremy to see his face shifting and giving him a small smile. The spent the rest of the class listening to their teacher talks about famous serial killers and Jeremy nudged his shoulder making Geoff and Jack laugh. Eventually, the bell rang and when the four of them walked out the door, Caiti and Griffon were already waiting for them.

They all went to lunch and saw Lindsay and Meg sitting at the table. Lindsay Meg’s faces perked up when they saw Ryan. “Rye! Ready for play practice today!” Meg exclaimed. “Yeah! Definitely!” He smiled and took the seat next to Jeremy. Throughout the lunch period, the conversations shifted from all sorts of stories that everyone was telling about crazy things that happened to them throughout the day. Ryan was looking down at his phone when he felt a weight on his shoulder and looked over to see that it was Jeremy leaning on him. Ryan smiled and placed a kiss in his now fading green hair. “Get a room you two.” Geoff said jokingly making Ryan and Jeremy blush and the rest of the table laugh. Ryan was somewhat listening to Jeremy tell a story about how Trevor came into chemistry with his hair bleached practically white when the Lindsay asked him “So what color are you going to dye your hair next?” Ryan’s ears perked up and were now listening closely. Jeremy began to speak and Ryan was eagerly awaiting his answer “Not sure. What color do you think I should color it?” Jeremy looked up at Ryan. “Umm, how about some sort of blue.” Ryan answered smiling. Jeremy smiled back and soon the warning bell rang. They cleaned up their table and when the finished the actual bell rang.

Ryan went up to his English class and sat down next to Larry while they waited for their teacher to come into the class. After a few minutes, a substitute teacher walked in and everyone in the class smiled at each other. He sat down and started calling out names for attendance when Ryan’s phone buzzed on his desk.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 12:52 pm**

“Hey I know you’re in English class but we were going to have Gavin and Michael in our video project but he isn’t here today. It’s our last day to shoot and we have nothing done.”

“James Haywood.” The teacher said in a monotoned voice. “It’s Ryan and here.” Ryan called back as he texted Jeremy.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 12:54 pm**

“Lucky for you a sub just walked into my class. I’ll be there in a few.”

Ryan quickly scribbled a pass to video and walked up to the teacher for him to sign it. The sub didn’t really care and signed it. He grabbed his bag and walked down the stairs into the basement. He handed his makeshift pass to the video teacher and waved to Jeremy, Matt, and Trevor.

“So what’s the video about?” Ryan asked curiously as he looked to see Jeremy carrying 4 nerf guns. “We're making a little fight scene. It’s me and you vs Jon and Blaine. Trevor and Matt are gonna film.” Ryan nodded and they waited for the other two to show up. Jon walked in shortly and they told him what he was doing. Blaine showed up after. When everyone knew what they were doing, Trevor gave them all white t-shirts to change into. After they were all changed Jeremy grabbed something out of his backpack and gave one to everyone who was going to be in the video, but Ryan since he was already wearing one. “What’s this?” Jon asked. “A fake blood packet. It’s remote controlled, Jeremy and I hooked it up today during chemistry.” Trevor said and they all nodded as Trevor and Jeremy helped them stick the packet on while their mics were being put on them.

Once everyone was set up they went outside to begin shooting their video. They had about 30 minutes to do so which should be enough time. “Alright, guys let’s make this fight as dramatic as it can be. Ryan and Blaine, I’m looking for those acting skills, there’s a reason you guys are in the play.” Matt said and everyone laughed.

Jeremy and Ryan started shooting and running, they missed a lot of their shots but it was okay, he really didn’t want to get shot because he was the only one that didn’t have a shirt to change into. The first shot that actually landed was when Jeremy shot Jon in the leg, making him limp around the field. Ryan quickly finished him off by shooting him in the chest. As soon as the bullet made contact Trevor activated the blood packet and it actually worked.

They continued to run around and nobody else had died yet. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Trevor looking at his phone to check how much time until the period was over. He quickly checked his clip to see that he only one bullet left and he didn’t have any extra ammo. Ryan shot his last bullet off and missed Blaine.

Blaine used this moment to aim his gun at Jeremy and as he saw Blaine about to pull the trigger he had the thought of how to make this even more dramatic. Blaine fired the gun and Ryan started sprinting in Jeremy’s direction. He timed it so that he jumped and took the bullet for Jeremy, right in the chest. Ryan felt the wetness of the fake blood hit his shirt and made it stick to him. He closed his eyes and landed on the ground.

He heard a gun going off and then a death noise coming from Blaine. Then he heard Jeremy’s footsteps coming towards him. “Ryan you saved me.” Jeremy cried at Ryan’s fake dead body. He felt Jeremy’s lips on his and Ryan had to try his best not to kiss back. “I love you Rye.” Jeremy whispered to him. “Cut!” Matt called and Ryan got up and kissed Jeremy back. “Love you too.” Ryan said quietly to him. “Ryan that was great! What made you think of that?” Jeremy asked. “Not sure, they do it in the movies and Matt said to make it dramatic.” Ryan laughed as they went inside.

They took off their mics and blood packets giving them to Matt, Trevor, and Jeremy. Blaine and Jon changed back into their normal clothes. “Ryan do you want a shirt to change into?” Jeremy asked as he looked at Ryan’s fake blood stained shirt. “Nah. I don’t have anywhere else to be, just study hall and play practice.” Ryan said as he wiped off any bits of fake blood that ended up on his face.

The bell rang and Ryan walked Jeremy to his next class. Ryan was getting some looks in the hallway with the healing black eye and the blood on his shirt he really did look more badass than he actually was. “What class are you going to anyways?” He asked as they went up the stairs. “Going to chorus. We have to perform covers of songs or songs that we wrote ourselves.” Jeremy said with a sigh. “Well if it’s cool with your teacher, mind if I stay to watch you?” Ryan asked shyly and Jeremy blushed. “Yeah, I don’t mind.” They walked in and Ryan and Jeremy sat in the back. “Hey Miles.” Ryan called out to him making him turn around. “Sup Rye.” Miles said as the teacher called on him to sing.

Ryan quickly pulled out his phone before Miles started.

**To: Lindsay Tuggey 12:41 pm**

“Can you sign me into study hall? I’m in the chorus room with Jeremy. See you at play practice.”  

“Alright Miles what are you going to sing?” The teacher said. “I’m gonna sing the theme song for a show that my friends and I are working on.” Miles plugged in his phone and a cheery tune started to play from the speaker it was connected to and Miles started to sing.

_OHHHHH_

_There's a place I know_

_That's tucked away;_

_A place where you and I can stay_

_Where we can go to laugh and play,_

_And have adventures every day!_

_I know it sounds hard to believe_

_But guys and gals it's true,_

_Camp Campbell is the place for me and you!_

_We'll swim through lakes and climb up trees;_

_Catch fish, bugs, bears, and honey bees!_

_There's endless possibilities_

_And no,_

_That's not hyperbole!_

_Our motto's "CAMPE DIEM"_

_And that means I'm telling you_

_We've got: Archery, hiking, search & rescue, biking, horseback, training that will save you from a heart attack, scuba diving, miming, keeping up with rhyming, football, limbo, science, stunting, pre-calc, spaceships, treasure hunting, bomb defusal, no refusal, fantasy, circus trapeze, and fights, and ghosts, and paints, and snakes, and knives, and chess, and dance, and weights. It's Camp Camp! _

Miles finished and everyone clapped, he didn’t pause to take a breath at all during the last part and Ryan was impressed. “Nice job! You ready for play practice. I heard it’s our first dress rehearsal.” Ryan said and Miles had a smile on his face as the teacher called up Jeremy to sing. “I’m going to sing a song that I wrote.” He said blushing and as he plugged his phone into the speaker Ryan gave him a big thumbs up and Jeremy smiled at him. The music started and Jeremy started to rap.

_Sometimes you realize that_

_The lovers hate and the honest lie and_

_Sometime you will find that_

_The word you're living in is in disguise_

 

_You paid all your debts, you gave it your best_

_You're swimming in praise but you live afraid_

_Afraid of the slip and you're afraid of the fall_

_Afraid to think that you could lose it all_

 

_'Cause you've broken your law, you've broken your code_

_You took a step into a place you swore you'd never go_

_And now you're breakin' a sweat, bottled down with regret_

_And you might think it's the end but it's not over yet_

 

_You spent your life always doin' it right_

_But let yourself fall down today_

_It's not all gone from a single wrong_

_Accept your faults and learn to say_

 

_Sometimes you realize that_

_The lovers hate and the honest lie and_

_Sometime you will find that_

_The word you're living in is in disguise_

 

_Drown yourself while you're sittin' cryin'_

_Lyin' to yourself that it's not okay_

_Tell the world that your old self is dyin'_

_While the man you are is still pavin' the way_

 

_Livin', lovin'_

_You're the man that man is always tryin' to be_

_Questionin' your own spot in the sky_

_But you're the only one who's still too blind see_

 

_You spent your life always doin' it right_

_But let yourself fall down today_

_It's not all gone from a single wrong_

_Accept your faults and learn to say_

 

_Sometimes you realize that_

_The lovers hate and the honest lie and_

_Sometime you will find that_

_The word you're living in is in disguise_

 

_See, there's a point in everyone's life_

_Where they come to the realization_

_That everyone is hiding something_

_Whether it's pain, fear, regret, or simply the truth_

_And mostly, it's from themselves_

 

_You're chancin' it all on unwinnable bets_

_A play in a game always won by regret_

_A life that is haunted by chance of a fall_

_And the people who know you don't know you at all_

_You're a saint, you're a sin, a whole battle within_

_That's worth losing if you can't just let the truth in_

_Don't be told when a single mistake gets around_

_That the man you built up will start crumblin' down_

 

_Sometimes you realize that_

_The lovers hate and the honest lie and_

_Sometime you will find that_

_The word you're living in is in disguise._

Jeremy finished his song and Ryan started clapping the loudest. Jeremy smiled and blushed. He walked back to his seat and Ryan kissed him on the lips. “Jeremy that was so great! You wrote that?” Ryan said listening to the next girl sing. “Yeah, I did. Thanks, Rye.” Jeremy cuddled into his side and stayed like that for the rest of the period. After a few more people sang the bell rang and Jeremy walked Ryan and Miles to the auditorium while Jeremy waited for Jack to drive him home. The three of them were talking until Jack walked up to them and Jeremy left to go home. “See you after practice, Ryan!” Jeremy called out as he and Jack walked away.

Mr. Heyman walked to the front of the auditorium and began to speak “Alright, today is our first dress rehearsal, we are mainly seeing how the costumes fit and how you will be able to dance in them. Today we are giving you generic shoes to dance in but I will need you to get more specific shoes that you’ll have to bring in next week. Also, this is your only practice this week, because next week is hell week since the play is next weekend.” Mr. Heyman finished and Ryan and everyone else went backstage and found their costumes. There were people taking measurements and seeing if any changes needed to be made for next week. Lucky for Ryan his main costume fit perfectly. The suit jacket that he wears, in the beginning, didn’t fit as well so he had to get adjustments made. But other than that all he had to do was find brown and black dress shoes by next week. “He was pretty sure Meg and Lindsay were going to want to go shopping with him for shoes.”

Ryan put on the suit even if the jacket was a little too big he only needed it for one song. Ryan and Meg performed the song and after that Ryan changed his costume. After a few more songs he changed costumes once more and ran through the rest of the songs. After running through each song twice practice was over and he quickly changed his clothes and checked his phone.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 2:24 pm**

“Hope play practice is going well. Dinner is at 6:00 and tonight is burrito night! It’s gonna be fun!”

Ryan checked the time on his phone and saw that it was almost 5 already. Good thing for him was that Lindsay and Meg didn’t need rides home so Ryan ran to his car and quickly drove home.

Ryan got home and unlocked his door and hopped in the shower. After what must’ve been the fastest shower in human history. He got out and looked for something to wear. Ryan looked through his closet and found a light pink button down shirt and a clean pair of jeans. Ryan checked his phone and saw that had a bit of time so he blow dried his hair quickly. Once he was satisfied he texted Jeremy.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 5:46 pm**

“Leaving now.”

Ryan got into his car and drove to Jeremy’s house. He put the radio on and had a nice drive. Finally, a time where he got on the road where he didn’t have to worry about rushing home or have to get stuck in some accident. He even had time on the way to stop for gas.

When Ryan got to Jeremy’s house he parked in their driveway and took a deep breath before getting out of his car and knocking on the door. A man that Ryan assumed was Jeremy’s father answered the door and Ryan introduced himself “Hello sir, I’m Ryan Haywood, Jeremy’s boyfriend.” “I’m Jeremy’s father.” The man said holding out his hand to which Ryan shook firmly. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.” Ryan said as he stood outside the door somewhat awkwardly. “Mark are you just letting that poor boy standing outside. Let him in.” A woman’s voice said. Ryan internally laughed and walked inside the house. “You must be Ryan. I’m Jeremy’s mother, he’s told us all about you.” She said sweetly. “All good things I hope.” Ryan said politely really throwing on that Georgian charm. She laughed “Jeremy’s just getting changed. Would you mind helping me putting all these bowls on the table.” Mrs. Dooley said walking into the kitchen. Ryan followed her and grabbed the bowls that were handed to him. “This smells really good Mrs. Dooley.” Ryan said putting the bowls on the table. “Well aren’t you just the sweetest boy. Also, Jeremy didn’t tell us that you were quite the looker.” Ryan laughed and Jeremy came out right as the last bowl was placed on the table.

“Hey, Rye!I see you met my parents.” Jeremy said as he gave Ryan a hug and a kiss. “Hope my dad didn’t get to you he’s kinda intimidating.” Jeremy whispered so only Ryan could hear. “He answered the door and left me outside, your mom had to yell at him to let me in.” Jeremy laughed and went to the table. Ryan took a seat next to Jeremy and looked at the soft tortilla on his plate. “Okay so pretty much just make a burrito with whatever you want in it and if you want seconds there are more tortillas in the oven.” Jeremy said and Ryan nodded his head and began to fill his burrito.

When everyone had their burritos made the questions started to come at Ryan. “So Ryan do you play any sports?” Jeremy’s father sternly. “No, but I’m in the drama club.” Ryan said and Mrs. Dooley smiled. “Ooh, what’s the play this year?” She asked excitedly, it almost reminded Ryan of Meg. “We're doing Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Ryan took a bite out of his food. “Have you always been in Austin Ryan?” Mrs. Dooley asked kindly. “I’ve been in Austin for three years, I moved from Georgia.” “I’ve never been but I’m sure it’s lovely.” She said. More questions followed on throughout the night and Ryan really enjoyed himself.

After they finished dessert, Ryan left since it was a school night after all. He ended up going home with some of the cake that they had for dessert. “Ryan it was lovely meeting you! You’re always welcome here.” Jeremy’s mother said and Ryan thanked her and went to drive home. He had to do his best to not fall asleep on the way home. Ryan got home safely and texted Jeremy before getting out of his car.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 8:59 pm**

“Had a great time! Your parents are good people.”

Ryan unlocked his door and put the slice of cake in fridge and went into his room to change into some pajamas. Right as Ryan was about to get into bed his phone went off.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 9:04 pm**

“They really liked you! I’m so glad the night went well. Looks like the Georgian charm worked after all.”

Ryan put his phone on the charger and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Everyone likes each other.  
> Hopefully, these two back to back chapters means that you'll forgive me for not being able to update this week because of college orientation.  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day! (: ~Kate


	18. It's Just One of Those Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry, I've been dead for like 2 weeks. I had a whole bunch of graduation parties, my birthday happened, and I've been playing Dream Daddy like there's no tomorrow! But I'm back and there's something spicy at the end of this chapter!

Ryan groaned as his alarm went off, forcing him to get out of the coziness that was his bed. He somehow found the strength to throw himself out of bed and walked to the bathroom to hop in the shower. Ryan looked in the mirror to rub the sleep out of his eyes when he saw that the once vibrant specs of green have slowly been losing their glow and have now turned to a lighter shade.

Ryan got in the shower and just stood there, he was feeling kinda off but didn’t know the cause or how to fix it. He just figured it was just going to be a blah day. Ryan got out of the shower and threw on a white shirt and some regular old blue jeans. He grabbed everything he needed and went down to the kitchen to make some breakfast.

Ryan didn’t put much thought into breakfast and just threw a bagel in the toaster. Once it popped he quickly put some butter on it and called it a day. As Ryan ate his bagel, his mom came down with a suitcase. “Ryan I’ve got a business trip. I’ll be back home on Monday.” She said while giving him a kiss and then heading out the door. When he was finished eating he went to his car and drove to school quickly.

For the first time in a while, Ryan got to school with enough time to talk with his friends before the bell for first period rang. Even though he was still feeling off Ryan walked over to Geoff’s locker where all his friends were.

“Ryan!” Lindsay exclaimed when she saw him walking down the hall. She moved closer to Michael so Ryan could fit into the circle. Ryan listened in on the conversation only adding anything when directly spoken to. Eventually, the warning bell rings, Michael and Gavin both give their respected others a kiss and begin walking with Ryan to their Marine Ecology class.

Right as they get to the door of their classroom Ryan hears his phone go off.

**From: Meg Turney 7:28 am**  
“Everything alright? You seemed a little off this morning.”

Ryan looked down at his phone and rolled his eyes, somehow Meg always knew when anything was wrong. The bell for class rang and he quickly wrote back a message to her.

**To: Meg Turney 7:30 am**  
“Yeah, just one of those days.”

Ryan placed his phone on the table and joined Gavin and Michael's conversation about upcoming movies. About halfway through their conversation Ryan looked over and saw that Jeremy hadn't come in. Usually, if Jeremy had chorus lessons then he'd usually text him.

It wasn't a big deal and he was enjoying his talks with Michael and Gavin but Jeremy would know how to try and get Ryan out of this blah state of mind. Ryan tuned back into the conversation. While Michael and Gavin were arguing about superheroes the bell rang.

The two younger boys walked out together continuing their argument while Ryan walked to his History class. He didn't mind the walk alone it just made him get to class a little faster.

Ryan made it to his History class in record time and sat down to do his work. Since he didn't want to focus on the reasons why Jeremy isn't here he decided to focus on his work, maybe being productive will take away the blah feeling.

While an extremely productive Ryan was taking notes the bell suddenly rang. Wow putting all your energy into school the classes do go faster. Ryan packed up his things and started walking down to his next class.

He went down the stairs and walked into the room taking his usual spot. “Hey, Ryan! No Jeremy?” Jack asked seeing the bland look on Ryan's face. “Nah he's probably just sick.” Ryan answered not wanting to press on the subject any further. “Hey, this weekend we should all do something as a group.” Geoff said trying to change the subject while also being serious. “Yeah, that sounds fun what did you have in mind?” Ryan asked, thankful for the subject change. “Not sure maybe lazer tag or something.” Geoff said while tapping away on his phone.

They kept their conversation going until the sound of the door opening. When Ryan looked up he saw Jeremy in the doorway. His hair was disheveled and he looked extremely tired. Jeremy was also in a white tank top and a pair of gray sweatpants. As Jeremy walked over to take his seat Ryan felt his face heat up, Jeremy looked really fucking hot.

“Sorry I overslept and all my regular clothes were dirty.” Jeremy said as he ran a hand through his hair. “Don't be I like the look.” Ryan said as turned to give him a kissing his forehead. Jeremy let out a yawn and smiled. “So what were you guys talking about before I came?” Jeremy asked while getting his things from his bag. “Thinking about maybe going to lazer tag this weekend with everyone.” Jack said while writing down whatever was on the board.

Ryan kinda zoned out of what they were talking about, he just focused on taking notes and getting through the day. The bell for announcements rang and everyone started to pack up their things. “There will be no play practice for the rest of the week. Also, gymnastics practice has been moved from 4 o’clock to right after school.” The loudspeaker shut off with a click and then the actual bell rang.

Ryan got up immediately and made a beeline for the door. Ryan felt something tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Jeremy. “Hey Rye, you alright?” Jeremy had a concerned look on his face. “I’ve just been feeling kinda blah. I’ll probably feel better later.” Ryan said with a sigh, he didn’t want Jeremy to worry about him. “You should come to my gymnastics practice. Plus we can hang out afterward.” Jeremy said with a smile. “I think I’d like that.” Ryan had a smile on his face. “You can’t ride on the bus with us but I’ll let you know where we're practicing.” Jeremy laughed as he got on his tippy toes to give him a kiss and then pulled away quickly. Ryan had a confused look on his face. “Shit I totally forgot I had a test next period. Gotta go see ya 7th!” He said quickly as he turned and started to speed down the hall.

Ryan laughed as he went to gym where he just wanted to sit out and sleep. Ryan checked the board to see if they were going to do sports or actually work out. Luckily for him, it was sports and even better he saw his gym teacher go into the locker room so there won’t be any dodgeball.

Ryan walked down the stairs to the locker room and look on the ground to see that there were still faint marks from where Austin beat him up the other day. He kept walking towards his gym locker and got changed into his gym clothes. He finished and went back up to the hallway where all the locker rooms were. Ryan saw his class and waited for his teacher to tell them what they were going to do. “Alright, so today we are going to play tennis. So we will walk out to the courts and get rackets.” Ryan’s teacher said as he led them through the gym to a room where they could grab a racket. He was glad to be going outside, maybe some fresh air would get him out of his blah mood.

Then they walked up the hill to the tennis courts and the teacher tells everyone to get partners so they could start practicing serving and all that tennis crap. Ryan didn’t really have any friends in that class so he was kind of just awkwardly standing there until someone asked him “Hey do you have a partner?” Ryan turned around and looked at the girl, she looked familiar but Ryan couldn’t figure out why. “Yeah. Do you have a ball?” Ryan said as she held up a ball.

As they walked over to an open court she asked him “You’re dating Jeremy Dooley right?” her voice was soft and Ryan was a little bit confused. “Yeah, how do you know Jeremy?” Ryan said as they found an open court. “Oh! I’m sorry I guess I didn’t really introduce myself. My name’s Claire and I’m on the gymnastics team with him.” She said as they went on opposite sides of the net.

“Now I know why you look so familiar! I saw you during the meet. You were really good! I’m Ryan by the way.” Ryan said as he hit the tennis ball coming at him. “He talks about you sometimes.” Claire said as she went to get the ball that she missed and she served. Ryan blushed, “Hopefully they were good things.” He missed the serve and went to get the ball. “It’s cute. I can tell that he likes you.” She said sweetly. Ryan kept blushing and continued their game.

While they were in the middle of a rally the teacher blew the whistle and Ryan stopped the ball with his racket and grabbed it off the ground. “This was fun. I’ve never had any friends in this gym class and that’s the fucking worst.” Ryan said with a laugh, Claire also laughed “Oh my god! I know it’s awful!” They walked back down to the gym together.

The two of them walked into their locker rooms and Ryan quickly got changed and left the locker room. He spotted Claire and walked over to her. “Hey, can I get your number?” She nodded and Ryan gave her his phone. She put in her info and gave him the phone back. “Just shoot me a text saying that it’s you.” Claire smiled and the bell rang. They walked their separate ways and Ryan headed to Math.

Since the bell hadn’t gone off yet Ryan pulled out his phone and started texting.

**To: Claire Hannon 10:33 am**  
“Hey it’s Ryan had fun in gym today (:”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 10:33 am**  
“I made a friend in gym today.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 10:33 am**  
“Who?”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 10:34 am**  
“Claire, from your gymnastics team.”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 10:34 am**  
“I’m glad! She’s sweet. See you next period.”

Ryan put his phone away and focused on taking math notes and reviewing for the upcoming test. The period still dragged on though, but at least he was being productive. Finally, the bell had rang and Ryan went to drop some books off at his locker before heading up the stairs to Criminal Justice.

Ryan walked in and took a seat. “Hey babe, you feeling better?” Jeremy asked. “Not really, gym with Claire was fun but then math kinda sucked any life I had out of me.” Ryan said blandly. “After school, you’ll feel better. I’m sure of it!” Jeremy grinned and kept talking “Oh! Our practice is at UT.” Jeremy said as he went back to his notebook. “How’d that test earlier go?” Ryan asked and Jeremy looked up from his notebook. “It was fine, I mean Gavin, Trevor, and I all cheated off each other anyway.” He smirked and Ryan laughed.

Jack and Geoff walked in and sat down joining Ryan and Jeremy’s conversation. After about 5 minutes a substitute teacher walked in to fill in since their normal teacher had a meeting and threw on a movie.

“Guys I’m bored and hungry.” Geoff complained. “I don’t know what to tell you about that, but we got lunch next period.” Jack said. “Wanna sneak out and get pizza for next period?” Geoff said with a devious smile on his face. “I’m down.” Jeremy said smiling. “Same here.” Ryan said. They all looked at Jack “I wanna hear a plan first.” Jack said firmly. “We go through the basement, Risinger is always down there. Then we go through the cut, my car is parked right there. We get pizza and Jon lets us back in at the end of the period.” Geoff said and then pulled out his phone. They all looked at Jack again who was a little surprised that Geoff came up with an actual plan. “Alright I’m in but how do we get out of here?” Jack said. “That’s the easy part. Grab your stuff and follow my lead.”

Geoff walked up to the desk and spoke to the teacher “Hi, our friend is going through some pretty emotional stuff right now and has to speak to the school’s counselor and could use all the moral support he could get do you think that we could get a pass and be there for our friend.” He said and the substitute looked up and started writing out a pass “Of course. What are your names?” She asked. “Geoff, Jack, Ryan, Jeremy.” Geoff said politely and grabbed the pass from the sub.

They all walked out and started heading through the basement, making their way to the photo room. They walked in and saw Jon, all of them waved and opened up the back door. “Text me when you guys are coming back and don’t forget the gluten free slices.” Jon said as Geoff held up a thumbs up.

Geoff led them to where the cut was and he opened up the gate and they all went through. Geoff also made sure to leave a rock holding the gate open just a tad bit just to absolutely make sure that they could get back to the school.

Once they were all through, Geoff’s car was there just like he said it would be. They all got in and drove to the nearest pizza place. “How long have you been doing this Geoff?” Jeremy asked curiously because this seemed like too well of a plan to have this be the first time it’s ever happened. “I’ve been doing this since freshman year, just with different seniors. Learned from the best I would say.” Geoff answered as everyone laughed.

They pulled into the pizza place and Geoff began ordering. “I’ll have three plain pies, two gluten free slices, and 10 garlic knots. To go please.” Geoff said as he pulled out his wallet to pay the at the register. “You guys want anything to drink?” Geoff said as he was paying. Everyone told Geoff what they wanted to drink and Geoff handed them their drinks. “So how much do we owe you?” Jack asked pulling his wallet out of his backpack. “Don’t worry about it.” Geoff said as he held up his parent's credit card. “My folks got mad at me for something I did so consider this as my way of getting back at them.” Geoff said as Jack rolled his eyes.

They spent the rest of the period waiting for their food while Jack was a bit nervous and kept checking the time before they had to get back. Soon, the guy called out their order and Geoff took the box and gave it to Ryan to carry out to the car. Geoff quickly pulled out his phone and texted Jon that they would be on their way back. Geoff drove up to the cut and they all got out. Ryan carried the box through and Jeremy held the gate open for him. They could see Jon at the back door looking hungry. “Your box is on the very top.” Ryan told him as he walked over with the box containing their food. “Geoff, how much was it?” Jon asks taking a bite of his food. “Don’t worry about it.” Geoff smiled as he asked, “Did the bell ring?” “Yeah right as you texted me.” Jon answered taking a sip of his water bottle.

Ryan and the others followed Geoff up the stairs as they said goodbye to Jon. Luckily for them, the back doors of the lunch room were open from the ending of last period. They slipped in and took their seats at their usual table, making it there before anyone else.

Gavin, Michael, Meg, and Lindsay walked in together and when they saw the food a smile came over their faces. “Damn Geoff when’d you get all this.” Gavin asked as he grabbed himself a slice. “Snuck out last period.” Geoff smirked. Michael gave a thumbs up as him and Lindsay also got food. Soon, Caiti and Griffon showed up and sat down. “Isn’t this something! What’s the occasion?” Griffon said taking her seat next to Geoff. “Geoff got hungry and bored last period.” Jack said bluntly. Everyone laughed and ate their food.

“Well, that was quite the adventure.” Jeremy said taking a sip of his Red Bull. “Yeah, I guess it was.” Ryan drank some of his Diet Coke. “Still feeling blah?” Jeremy asked. “Yeah, but I’m way better than I was this morning. And I’ll be even better watching your gymnastic practice.” Ryan smiled and Jeremy blushed.

They turned back to the group, “So we were thinking it would be fun if all of us went to lazer tag this weekend. What do y’all think?” Jack asked and everyone seemed excited. The rest of lunch was spent making plans about lazer tag. The warning bell rang and there were only a few garlic knots left. “Anyone want these?” Michael asked as he was cleaning up the table. “I’ll take em.” Ryan said as Michael laughed. “Why am I not surprised.”Ryan looked at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryan said pretending to be offended. “Because you eat everything Ryan!” he said and everyone laughed. “He’s kinda got a point Rye.” Jeremy said and Ryan looked away pretending to be hurt. The table kept laughing and the bell rang, ending the period.

Ryan walked up the stairs and made it to his English class. Ryan took his seat and pulled what he needed out of his backpack. He decided to keep up with the theme of actually being a productive student in all his classes that he didn’t have friends in.

Larry took his seat and waved to Ryan. “Hey, Ryan!” “Hey, Larry! Want a garlic knot?” Ryan offered taking one for himself. “I would! Thanks, Ryan.” Larry said as he grabbed the last one of the napkin that Ryan brought them in. He stood up to throw out the napkin and the bell rang starting the class.

“Okay so today and tomorrow we are going to do something a little different, and spend the period doing some creative writing.” Ryan looked over at Larry whose face lit up when she said that. Ryan laughed to himself. “We are going to be sharing these on Friday, so let’s keep them school appropriate.” She said looking directly at Larry which made Ryan laugh even more.

It was nice and quiet but Ryan didn’t know what to write about. He had never really been good at creative writing. He spun his pen around in his fingers trying to think of something to write. Ryan stared at the paper and nothing came to his mind. He kept thinking when suddenly an idea popped into his head to write about Jeremy and his first date. Since it sounds like something somebody would make up anyway. Ryan spent the period filling up the pages in his notebook with blue ink, and changed the names around.

He had gotten through a pretty good chunk of the story when the bell went off and ended the period. Ryan said bye to Larry and went to his study hall. When Ryan walked in he saw Meg and Lindsay laying down on a few desks that they pushed together. “Hey, Rye. Some day it’s been huh.” Lindsay said held her phone up over her face. “It has been quite the day.” Ryan said as he took a seat next to them and started talking. “So got any plans after school?” Meg asked him and he blushed. “Well I was going to watch Jeremy’s gymnastics practice and we’d probably get food after that.” “Ooh, you get to see how flexible he is.” Lindsay sat up and started nudging Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan blushed harder and thought back to how good Jeremy looked in those sweatpants and that tank top. His thoughts were stopped by Lindsay saying “Oh come on Rye, we’re just messing around.”

Ryan laughed a little and then changed the topic to talk about the play. The three of them spent the rest of the period talking and then the bell rang. All of them walked out and continued their conversation about the play when they finally got to the parking lot. “Later Rye! Have fun at gymnastics practice. Tell Jeremy we say hi!” Meg and Lindsay said as Ryan went to his car.

He was just about to start driving when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

**From: Jeremy Dooley 2:30 pm**  
“We just left the school. Can’t wait to see you  <3”

Ryan smiled and quickly answered him.

**To: Jeremy Dooley 2:31 pm**  
“Cool. Can’t wait to see you also  <3”

Ryan started his car and began driving to UT. The drive took a little longer than he would’ve liked because he got stuck in some traffic. Once that cleared up he made it to UT without any other mishaps.

He parked his car and walked into the building. He went to the gym and took a spot on the bleachers. No one seemed to notice him or if they did nobody was saying anything.

Ryan spotted Jeremy and Claire practicing their routines and they looked really good. Given Ryan didn’t really know anything about gymnastics he assumed they were doing good. Claire had seemed to notice him while she was on a balance beam and gave him a small wave. He waved back and once she got off the beam she ran over to Jeremy and told him something that Ryan couldn’t hear but after they pulled away Jeremy turned to the bleachers and waved at him. Ryan smiled and waved back.

He kept watching them practice and eventually the practice was over and Ryan’s phone buzzed.

**From: Claire Hannon 4:15 pm**  
“Ryan! It was such a nice surprise that you came to watch us practice. Hope you had a good time!”

**To: Claire Hannon 4:15 pm**  
“I had a great time! You guys were really good!”

**From: Jeremy Dooley 4:15 pm**  
“Meet me in the locker room in 10 mins (;”

**To: Jeremy Dooley 4:16 pm**  
“Okay.”

Ryan played on his phone and when he saw that ten minutes had passed he got off the bleachers. He exited the gym and went into the locker room. “Jeremy?” He called out seeing that it was pretty much empty. “Back here.” Jeremy said and Ryan followed where the voice was coming from when he saw him Ryan gave him a hug and started to congratulate him. “Babe you were so good! You looked so-” Ryan was cut off by Jeremy pulling him into a kiss.

Ryan was shocked for a minute but then he kissed back and pressed his lips harder against Jeremy’s. Ryan pulled off of Jeremy’s mouth and started kissing down his neck. A light moan escaped from his lips. “You looked so fucking hot out there. Also, those gray sweatpants are the hottest thing you own.” He whispered in his ear. “I better they’d look even hotter on the ground though.” Ryan whispered and Jeremy just moaned. Ryan placed his mouth back on Jeremy’s neck and started to his move his hands to Jeremy’s crotch with was getting harder and harder by the second. Ryan slowly slid the sweatpants down and Jeremy breathed out “Ry-Ryan please, I need this.” He took a look at Jeremy’s dark blue briefs and saw the wet spot in the front of them getting bigger.

At this point not even could take all the teasing he was giving Jeremy so he slid down the briefs and placed his mouth at the tip of Jeremy’s cock. Jeremy moans and Ryan starts bobbing his head. He moans louder and starts going faster. Ryan’s hands find their onto Jeremy’s balls and Jeremy keeps moaning. Ryan keeps going at the same speed and works his tongue on the underside of Jeremy’s cock. He takes a quick breath for air but then immediately goes back down. It’s not long until Jeremy says “I’m going to-” Jeremy doesn’t even have to finish that sentence before Ryan is going full speed and pulling out all the tricks he knows to make Jeremy cum. Jeremy lets out one final moan before a stream of Jeremy’s cum is in Ryan’s mouth.

Ryan pulls away from Jeremy whose head is arched back and his eyes are shut. He takes a few deep breaths and looks back at Ryan. Jeremy kisses Ryan and can taste himself on Ryan’s lips. They stay like that for a moment and then Jeremy pulls away. “We should probably do something about that.” Jeremy says as he starts rubbing Ryan through his jeans. Ryan let out a soft moan before moving Jeremy’s hand away and saying “Well I do have the whole house to myself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, that sexy cliffhanger though! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Updates should be happening regularly now (or at least they should be)  
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day! ~Kate (:


	19. The One Where They Literally Just Bang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I feel really bad about not updating but I've been hella busy with getting ready for college and seeing all my friends leave. Hopefully, this short but sexy chapter will be enough to forgive me for my absence.

Jeremy looked at Ryan with lustful eyes and quickly pulled up his underwear and sweatpants. Ryan grabbed his hand and they basically ran to where Ryan’s car was parked. 

Once they got into the car, Ryan started driving noticeably faster to get home as soon as possible without cumming in his pants or killing the two of them. Jeremy was not helping with either of those things, his hand hovered over Ryan’s crotch and would lightly stroke Ryan through his jeans. He had to try his best not to roll his eyes back in pleasure, so Ryan’s already rapid breathing was getting faster. 

When Ryan got to the street that he lived on he decided to speed down the road to his house because fuck it, he’s got needs. The car comes to a stop as Ryan parks in his driveway and both of them take off the seat belts at the speed of light. The car doors slam and they hastily make their way towards the front door and Ryan needs all his concentration to keep his hand steady which was difficult because Jeremy was next to him saying “Good thing we’ve got the house alone, I’m going to make you scream my name.” Ryan bit his lip as the friction in his jeans got tighter. 

The door finally opened and as the two boys stepped inside they quickly shut and locked it. They both ran upstairs and once they got into Ryan’s room they even bother with the door and started making out. 

Jeremy could make out the faint taste of himself on Ryan’s lips and moaned at the thought. The vibrations made Ryan pull away and start undoing his jeans. “Someone is eager aren’t they?” Jeremy smirked and helped pull Ryan’s pants off. Soon he was just left in his underwear and couldn’t take the thought of Jeremy doing anything but putting his mouth on Ryan’s dick. 

Jeremy slowly slid his hand into the waistband of Ryan’s underwear and started to slowly stroke him. “Jer-Jeremy, please I need this.” Ryan whimpered and felt his underwear quickly fall to his ankles. 

Just as Ryan was about to look down at the stunning sight of his boyfriend on his cock, he whipped his head back, closed his eyes and loudly moaned. He had been waiting for this all day and damn was it worth it. 

After a few more bobs of Jeremy’s head, he pulled away and decided to try something that one of his friends in Boston told him about. Jeremy took his index finger and coated it in his spit and put his head back on Ryan’s cock. He took the hand that wasn’t on Ryan, stroking any parts that his mouth couldn’t reach and moved his free hand onto Ryan’s ass giving him a little squeeze. Ryan let out a quiet moan and Jeremy started to swirl his finger around Ryan’s hole. 

“Wait.” Ryan was able to breathe out. Jeremy pulled away completely and looked up at Ryan “Did I do something wrong?” he asked shyly. “No, no, not at all. Just if you’re gonna do that, you might need this.” Ryan said as he went over to his nightstand and pulled out a large bottle of lube out of the cabinet on the bottom of the nightstand. Jeremy let out a small laugh before grabbing the bottle of lube. “What I had needs before I met you.” Ryan smiled and Jeremy covered his hand in the lube. He put his mouth back on Ryan’s cock and let out a laugh, the vibrations felt nice on his dick. 

Soon Jeremy’s finger once again found Ryan’s hole and started to circle around it, a little hesitant about doing something too fast or hurting Ryan. “Don’t worry about hurting me, just go for it.” Ryan said and Jeremy eased his finger in and gave him a second to get used to the sensation and Ryan let out a moan telling him to start pumping. Jeremy stuck with one finger for a bit and took his mouth off of Ryan’s cock to leave kisses on Ryan’s thighs.       

“Another.” Ryan said hastily as Jeremy followed his order and slipped his middle finger in to join the first one. Ryan’s breathing was turning into moans and Jeremy smiled to himself knowing that he could do that to Ryan. A few pumps later Ryan was ready for a third and Jeremy followed suit. He kept pumping until he felt something. “Yes! Jeremy! There!” Ryan’s back arched as Jeremy had accidentally found his prostate. Jeremy did his best not to move the position of his fingers and went to try and hit Ryan’s prostate again. It took a few tries but eventually, Jeremy found it again and was hitting it with each pump. “Jeremy!” was all Ryan could say. He was getting louder with his moans and was barely able to get out the warning of when he was going to cum before he felt Ryan tighten around Jeremy’s fingers and he put his mouth around his dick one last time and kept thrusting into Ryan before a load of cum was in Jeremy’s mouth and he swallowed it. 

Jeremy slowly took his fingers out of Ryan and looked up at Ryan, his shoulders were back, eyes closed, and heavy breathing. Jeremy went to the bathroom to clean up quickly before joining on his bed and cuddled into his side. “I’m impressed. I thought you were a virgin?” Ryan asked. “I am, but one of my friends back in Boston was gay and was getting dudes left and right. He told me about how some guy did that and it was crazy, so I thought I try it.” Jeremy smiled and ran his fingers through Ryan’s hair. “Well, I’m glad you did. I’m also glad that there isn’t play practice this week.” They laughed and kept cuddling. “How about pizza and a movie?” Ryan asked. “Sounds good but I wanna keep cuddling.” Jeremy said wrapping his arm around Ryan. Ryan smiled and pulled out his phone to call the nearest pizza place. 

After Ryan placed the order they picked out something to watch on Netflix. It was some movie they’d both seen but that just meant that they could spend more time paying attention to each other rather than the movie.      

15 minutes later the pizza came and Ryan had to unhinge himself from Jeremy’s grasp to get up and pay the pizza guy. Ryan brought the pizza into his room and they both sat up and ate. The two of them had about 3 slices each and then passed out in each other’s arms. 

What a perfect end to such a meh day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again sorry this chapter is so short but hopefully, I'll update it later this week.   
> Comments and Kudos are hella appreciated.  
> Hope you have a lovely day ~Kate (:

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on Tumblr! http://outsideofvirtualreality.tumblr.com


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